Til the Fat Lady Sings
by Fiersh
Summary: Heroes don't have to die alone. Especially not when the motley crew of crazy misfits he attempted to assemble for war becomes a family instead. Starts near the end of ME3, just before Shepard's final push, and then replaces the Ending completely. Ignores all DLC, and incorporates a little of the "Indoctrination Theory". MShep/Miranda, some Garrus/Tali
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**** - This fic takes place pretty much **_**during**_** the "Perfect" ending of the game, with a few unnoticeable details fudged for artistic license. It also incorporates some aspects of the "Indoctrination Theory". It features a mostly Paragon Commander John Shepard, an Earthborn Infiltrator who romanced Miranda Lawson in ME2 and ME3, and Ashley Williams in ME1. All squad members from ME2 (except Zaeed, I never got that DLC) and ME3 (except Javik, I didn't get that DLC either) survived. Kaiden died in ME1.**

* * *

[CHAPTER ONE]

* * *

- - - _Sol System: Aboard the SSV Harrier _- - -

* * *

"Avenger III, this is Commander Gavin Chang of the SSV Harrier. We are incoming for dock."

There was a burst of static before someone's gruff voice answered.

"SSV Harrier, you are not authorized for dock. I repeat, you are not authorized for docking with the Avenger III."

Miranda Lawson cleared her throat behind Commander Chang and tapped her boot impatiently. The noise echoed across the cockpit and everyone took an instinctive step back.

"Er, all due respect, you may want to reconsider that decision," Commander Chang said, swallowing anxiously. "We must transfer a very insistent passenger to your ship for transport to Earth."

More static. The people on the Avenger III were clearly stalling for time, unwilling to slow their course. Whatever their mission was, they were headed for Earth – fast. Which meant that Miranda needed to be on that ship. And as incompetent as the crew of the SSV Harrier was, they really needed to report to their station and join the battle outside of Earth's orbit. The Reapers seemed to be making their biggest assault yet.

When the Avenger III finally answered, it was a different voice.

"Commander Chang, we have a ship full of scientists headed for Earth, where the battle against the Reapers has come to a head. We need to get these personnel to the underground lab in London as soon as possible, so we cannot – I repeat, we _cannot_ – spare any time for passenger transfer. We recommend you report to your station."

"Understood. But - "

An elegant hand snaked over Commander Chang's shoulder and grabbed the mic from the console, nearly severing it from the panel. Chang quickly ducked out of the way, letting Miranda take his seat.

"Jacob? Jacob Taylor?"

This time the response was immediate. A blue hologram of Jacob appeared on the panel before them.

"Miranda?!"

"Jacob, isn't it customary to identify yourself when addressing another military official?" Miranda couldn't help but tease him and his resume. It was very nice to finally see a familiar face.

"We're not military anymore, sweetheart."

Miranda smiled. "How far we both have come."

"You're telling me. I'm guessing you're the passenger Commander Chang is trying to unload on us?"

"Yes."

"How did you get on an Alliance ship anyway?"

"With extreme difficulty," Commander Chang grumbled behind her.

"Not _that _much difficulty," Miranda said, loftily. Jacob laughed.

"Where have you even been? I know about your sister and Sanctuary. What happened since then? I would have thought you'd have been back on the Normandy in a second."

Miranda paused, unsure of how much she could say with an entire Alliance naval force standing at a safe distance behind her. At this point, despite the pending end of the galaxy, she still felt compelled to keep her family safe from anyone who might use her sister against her.

Kai Leng had dealt her a significant wound to her abdomen, as well as a few more choice slashes along her flank and back. Miranda had flown herself and her sister to a small moon in the Exodus Cluster, where Oriana reunited with her parents. There, Oriana and her family worked to help colonists and refugees while Miranda recuperated. She did manage to get a computer and work from her makeshift hospital bed, slipping the Alliance intel and discussing tactical strategies against Cerberus.

When she'd gotten word of the upcoming battle on Earth, her sister and her parents, who had all but adopted Miranda into their new family, convinced her to stay. She was still not a hundred percent physically, and honestly Miranda had a family to care for now. It shocked her, how much weight a family could have in decisions.

But then the call from Shepard came. Her walls went up, like a biotic field of pessimism and insecurity, the fear of loss and pain, and the conversation was over just as abruptly as it began. All it had taken was his face, his voice, to confuse her and distort everything she thought she knew.

Not all her loved ones were safe.

* * *

_- - - Discreet Location: 20 hours earlier - - -_

* * *

"Are you serious right now?"

She swiveled around, realizing that Oriana had heard the entire bittersweet exchange.

"Are you completely incapable of minding your own business?" Miranda demanded.

"You're the one who wanted a little sister around," Oriana shrugged. "Is that it, though? You're just going to end it like that? _'Find me'!?_"

"And what would you have me do?"

"Go!" the girl said, as plainly as if she were telling her dinner was ready. "Go to Earth! Find him! You can be there inside of 24 hours if you leave now."

Miranda shook her her sadly. "It's not that simple. I need to take care of you and your parents. I'm not losing you again. Not after just getting you back."

"We'll be fine here, I swear." Oriana produced a pistol and Miranda stood back cautiously. After weeks of training, Miranda had discovered that unfortunately, only one Lawson sister had the innate proficiency with guns. "I'm getting better! This morning I didn't topple any of the silos!"

"As reassuring as it is that you're not raining destruction upon the entire colony," Miranda said, reaching over to gently pull Oriana's pistol down and check if the safety was on. "I'd like to be here with you, if this is...if..."

Miranda was a realist. Shepard's optimism was all well and good when he was around to tell you everything was going to be okay. But when he was gone, all that was left was a half melted candle, its smoking wick the only evidence that any hope ever existed. She halfway believed him when he said it would work out, when he said he would find her. She almost believed they would meet again.

But as soon as the communications shut down, there was nothing. She just couldn't accept the impossible. Not without Shepard there with her.

"Anyway, I'm injured, remember?"

"Oh, please. That paper cut is loads better now. Stop using that as an excuse. It's not like anyone's hiding in the bushes to kill us anymore. The galaxy officially has bigger problems." She rolled her eyes. "Even if a Reaper were to come gobble up this teeny rock, what would you be able to do, anyway?"

Miranda bit the inside of her cheek. She was losing this argument and they both knew it, but she was every bit a Lawson her sister was. If she wasn't going to win, she was at least going to make it difficult.

"Feed you to it first."

"You'll be of more use there. With the Normandy and your crew. With Shepard," Oriana continued. "Plus, I can't stand you moping around here all day clutching that pistol you have under your pillow. I know you're dying to shoot it at something. You weren't built for this life, Miri. You've been unhappy since Sanctuary. You want to go back to the Normandy, and now is your chance!"

"Stop trying to get rid of me," Miranda said, a slow smile starting to appear on her face. While Miranda could at least fire a gun without accidentally blowing up important structures, she lacked her sister's natural charisma. When she spoke, you listened, and you obeyed. And she never made anyone hate her in the process.

"I'm not trying to get rid of you. I'm just saying, I'll be here when you get back. When this is all over, you can come back and help me build this colony again, and I can go back to watching you be really super-bored about it." She scowled at Miranda's expression. "What, you don't believe me? Didn't you believe Shepard?"

Miranda sighed. "Oriana, think about it. This may literally be the end of the galaxy. If I never see you again..."

She glared. "That's the problem, then. You don't believe anything unless you're standing over it with a clipboard calculating probability. You don't even believe Shepard will survive, do you? What, do you think he's dead now?"

Miranda felt her biotics flare up involuntarily at that. "Don't you dare - "

"No. You shut up and listen to me," Oriana jabbed her finger in her face, startling her into silence. "We. Can. Do. This. I know you think so, way deep down, because you're my sister and I know you're not a complete loser. So don't stand there and look at me like I'm already dead, you...you butthead. You're not doing anyone any favors if you haven't got any hope in the first place! Find that hope that I know you're afraid of, and go save the fucking galaxy!"

Oriana was breathing hard, clenching her jaw and holding back tears. The little girl, the young woman with the round blue eyes sparking with anger and despair, no one could have guessed she may be the bravest one of them all. It took a lot of guts to be virtually powerless in battle, but still have hope.

And suddenly, Miranda Lawson believed.

* * *

_- - - Sol System: Aboard the SSV Harrier - - -_

* * *

"It's a long story," she answered Jacob finally. "What about you? What's your objective?"

"My objective is to escort these scientists to London. You might know them, they were former Cerberus. You'll be in good company when we let you board."

Miranda looked at the monitor and noted that the Avenger III was slowing. Commander Chang motioned for his pilot to match their speed and prepare to dock. She knew what he was thinking, the sooner they got rid of the crazy Cerberus bitch, the better. Even if she wasn't with the "terrorists" anymore, it was admittedly insane of her to stowaway in an Alliance ship, surrounded by Alliance military. They all knew her file well. Operative Lawson was practically an intergalactic criminal, until her assistance with the Alliance war effort against Cerberus and her former employers. They had _technically_ granted her pardon, but most still saw her as a potential enemy.

"And what is your objective after they are safely in the London facility?" Miranda asked. She chose not to bring up the obvious fact that if the Alliance needed civilian scientists so close to the battlefield, of course they would choose former Cerberus over the ones employed by the Alliance. It was nice to see that the Alliance had not lost their uncanny ability to hold petty grudges in dire circumstances.

"Well, Miss Lawson, I intend to go find Shepard and help him kick Reaper tail?"

"Good plan."

"I thought so. You'll be joining me, I gather?"

"To be honest, if that wasn't your plan I was going to seize control of your ship like I did this one and force you to come with me," she confessed.

Jacob smirked. "Just like old times, then?"

"I hope you have another bottle of champagne."

"Think the Commander will appreciate your coming onto me, Lawson?"

"Not for you and I," Miranda raised an eyebrow. "For Shepard. I hardly think it would be fair for you to be drinking anything, anyway, with poor Dr. Cole unable to join in."

"You heard, huh?"

"I did. Congratulations are in order."

Jacob winked. "Save it for when you're on board. She's here to congratulate in person, you know."

"See you soon." Miranda clicked off the communications and turned back to the crew of the SSV Harrier, all of whom looked thoroughly relieved that she would be leaving.

"Thank you very much for your hospitality," she said sarcastically. As an afterthought, she added, "And I apologize for any injuries I caused fighting my way to the bridge earlier. Best of luck!"


	2. Chapter 2

[CHAPTER TWO]

* * *

- - - _Earth: Alliance Base near London_ - - -

* * *

"Fuck it," Joker flipped a few switches and the Normandy's cockpit began to light up. The control panel flickered to life.

EDI sat at his side and stared at him blankly. "Jeff, you have been silent for twenty-three minutes. I'm not sure I know what you mean by 'it'."

"The Commander's orders," Joker clarified. He pulled the loudspeaker mic towards him and flicked the switch to activate ship-wide communications. "Fuck _those._"

It seemed to take EDI another minute to process this, but Joker didn't have time to wait. She was still learning how to deal with human impulsiveness, and how sometimes, humanity just needed to proclaim _fuck this_. Fuck this, fuck that, fuck everything and get it done. EDI was about to get the ultimate lesson.

"We will be disobeying the Commander's orders? Specifically, we will not lay in wait while Shepard and the Hammer squad make their run for the Reaper beam?"

"No, we will not," Joker confirmed. Into the communications mic, he announced, _"Attention, Normandy crew - fuck the Commander's orders. Just fuck 'em all. We will be airborne in thirty seconds. We're giving air support for the Commander and the Hammer squad, maybe save their asses in the process. So if you've got families, if you've got something to live for – get the hell off this ship. You have thirty seconds."_

He opened the all the hatches on the ship and for a moment, there was complete silence. Then, a few muted gasps. Joker closed the doors to the cockpit and glared stonily ahead. He didn't want to see who was leaving. Not that he could judge anyone who wanted off the ship - this was a suicide mission if there ever was one, and not one person on board was any less brave for leaving.

He just couldn't bear to see the Normandy empty. Not again.

"Jeff, the likelihood of our survival is very slim," EDI said.

"I know."

"The likelihood of Shepard's survival or anyone else who went for the beam are even slimmer."

"I know. But the Normandy goes where Shepard goes," Joker said firmly.

"And I go where the Normandy goes."

Joker felt a lump form in his throat and he glanced sideways at EDI, who remained at his side, never making any effort to even get up. Of course she couldn't leave. EDI _was_ the Normandy. She could never truly leave it. Joker had technically just given a choice to the every member of the crew, except her.

"EDI if you...I don't..."

"No, that was an error," EDI interrupted. She looked at him and the corners of her mouth turned up just slightly. "What I meant was, I go where _you_ go."

Joker smiled slowly. "Are you sure?"

"I'm always sure. Two minutes, and we will be in the Reaper's airspace."

"Awesome."

Suddenly there was a loud banging on the cockpit door. Joker jumped and shared a look with EDI.

"Were you actually expecting _everyone_ to leave us?" EDI asked coyly. Joker grinned. The AI certainly had no difficulty learning sass. He opened the door and Specialist Samantha Traynor entered, a small M-4 Shuriken tucked under her arm.

"It took you long enough. If you had waited another 10 seconds to make that announcement we were going to storm the cockpit and seize the Normandy ourselves. Why aren't we in the air yet?"

"Traynor?" Joker eyed the gun cautiously. "Do you even know how to shoot that thing?"

"I apparently have two minutes to teach her." Ashley stood behind her, along with Tali and Liara, all armed. She stepped in next to Traynor and began to rattle off a report. "I have Engineers Daniels and Donnelly armed and waiting at the hatches, with Dr. Chakwas as support and Adams in the engine room. I'll be manning the Normandy's guns and we'll deploy Cortez with Tali and Liara in the shuttle. Our objective is to go in, grab Shepard, James, Garrus, and anyone else we can pick up, then haul ass out of there. Nothing more."

"Gee, thanks for keeping me informed, you mutinous wretches."

Ashley smirked. "I'm a Spectre and Lieutenant Commander, so by default _I'm_ supposed to run this show. Technically, _you're_ the mutinous wretch."

"Right. Sorry for my complete insubordination." Joker turned to EDI. "Did you know about their plan?"

"Yes. Of course."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"It wasn't fully formed until just a moment ago," EDI said. "Also, the visual display of your discomfort was endearing."

Traynor poked Joker with the butt of her weapon. "I think she said you're cute when you squirm."

Joker pushed the gun away, a pink flush creeping up his neck, and grabbed hold of the steering column.

"I'm cute all the time. Places, ladies. We're about to go airborne. If we survive this, there's enough of me to go around."

* * *

_- - - Earth: London - - -_

* * *

Garrus had long been separated from Commander Shepard in their final push to the beam. The Reaper's fire nearly incinerated him, but the force of the blast knocked him back, away from the searing energy that may or may not have gotten James. Garrus landed headfirst in a large pile of rubble and had lost sight of his teammate after the attack, but he saw Shepard still running towards the beam with the remnants of the Hammer squad.

"Go get 'em, Commander," he whispered as his world went black...

...and he woke up again to a sharp slap across the face.

"Ah! What the - ?!"

"Garrus, I said get up! I wounded that Marauder, but he might still come back!"

_"Tali!?"_ Garrus demanded incredulously. He didn't have the strength to rub at his eyes, but he could swear that what he was looking at was a discolored, blurry Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. But that didn't make any particular sense, since she was supposed to be back on the Normandy, not standing over him raising her hand for another blow to his cheek.

"Wait, I'm up! I'm up!"

"No, you're not up!" Tali pulled at his arm. "If you were up, we'd be running right now. I can't carry you, Garrus, I need you to help me!"

"What – what are you doing here?" Garrus asked. His vision was not improving any and he felt as though he were starting to slip away. The edges of his mind were beginning to darken again.

Another hard slap wrenched him awake. _"Ow!"_

"Garrus, I swear..." She pulled his arm over her tiny shoulder. There was no possible way she could support even a third of his weight on her slight frame, but the little quarian was sure as hell going to try. He was still dazed, and very little was making sense to him, but he forced himself to stand. It was then that he discovered he only had one foot. The other must have been lost in the Reaper's blast. His hastily bandaged stump looked to be slathered in medigel, but they both knew it would do little for this kind of wound.

He grunted in pain.

"I know, I know, just lean on me. That's it..."

Garrus was slowly descending into utter confusion from the blood loss. Bodies littered the landscape, absurdly large piles of debris blocked out a bright light, and there was nearly complete silence around them, other than Tali's determined urging. There was the acrid scent of burning flesh and melted metal in his nose and the taste of dust and blood in his mouth. His eyes fluttered, and he suspected he was coming in and out of consciousness.

"Hey! Don't you dare die on me now!" Tali shouted at him, sounding more and more distant. "I just jumped out of a shuttle and got chased a mile by a Ravager for you. If you die now, I will never forgive you."

That sobered him up a bit. "You did _what?"_

"Don't say anything. You'd do the same for me."

He was even more at a loss for words than he was before. They had discovered their feelings for each other fairly recently, though no doubt something was there long before Shepard discovered them in the main battery. Their relationship was destined for tragedy in this war, pretty much everyone's relationships were, so they both held back. But suddenly, hearing her tiny gasps for breath and seeing her struggle under his weight, all his feelings surged.

"I love you."

It was Tali's turn to stare. They stopped so abruptly that Garrus had to regain balance and accidentally put weight on his stump, causing a sharp pain to shoot up his leg so severely that he nearly passed out again.

"What did you say?"

"I said I love you? I think?" Garrus wasn't sure if it was the blood loss or the head injury, but he definitely felt bolder. "Don't worry, you don't have to say it back to me."

"I'm not going to," Tali said. Despite everything, she punched him sharply in the arm. "Are you serious? Are you kidding me? Garrus, we are not having this conversation here. Not in the middle of a battlefield while half your body's blood content is splattered on the rocks. Just stop talking and focus all your energy on _moving!_"

"Moving. Moving!" He knew there was a smile on her lips, under that helmet. The medigel was at least doing its job to speed coagulation of his stump. It was still bleeding too much for comfort, but he was actually beginning to feel more lucid. "And where is it that we're going, anyway?"

"_You_ are going into that human waste vestibule over there." Tali pointed at the tall plastic box. Garrus knew full well what was inside them. He'd seen enough of them around the Citadel during major construction projects. Humans were apparently a lot less capable in holding their bodily waste production than most other species, and needed temporary constructs for relief wherever they went. He swore, it was as if humans evacuated their bladders and bowels every single day.

"The – that thing? Humans call it a _Port-A-Potty._"

"Yes, that."

"Why?"

"You're injured," Tali said plainly. "I'm trying to get you out of sight before more Marauders find you. You can't escape, not without help, so I'm hiding you until I can flag down Cortez and Liara in the shuttle to pick us up."

"What? _What?!_"

"When I saw you I made Cortez drop me, but we got hit and he lost control. He couldn't drop me directly on top of you and he couldn't wait unless we wanted the shuttle to draw the attention of every enemy in a mile's radius, so he told me to get you to a secure location and then call for help. My communications module is fried from the fight, so I have to use my distress beacon instead."

"So why do I have to go in the Port-A-Potty? Just activate it now."

"I...I sort of shoved it down a Husk's throat."

"What?" he demanded again. Was he losing it again? "You _what?_"

Tali looked away sheepishly and gently helped Garrus lean against the Port-A-Potty. "It was instinct. The Husk jumped me by surprise and I just punched it directly in the mouth. The beacon was in my fist and I kind of..."

"You fed your distress beacon to a Husk?" Garrus demanded. _"How – you – !?"_

"Look, just get in the waste receptacle - "

_"Port-A-Potty."_

" - and give me a few minutes, okay? And give me your gun. That Husk tore the reservoir out of mine and now I can't reload."

Garrus looked down at his rifle dubiously. He'd been dragging it through the dirt with them, unwilling to let go. In the past few years it was like his rifle was now just an extension of his own arm.

"I'm not sure you can fire this one, Tali. The recoil nearly knocks _me_ on my ass. You'll end up halfway to the Earth moon with this kickback."

"I don't have a choice, do I?" Tali took the gun and patted his cheek fondly. Then she took him by surprise and pushed him into the Port-A-Potty. "And I'm stronger than I look. Stay put!"

She shut the door. He made a move to follow, but without her support he was completely unable to walk. He could already hear her jogging away, leaving him safely in a plastic box of human feces. His stump was bleeding profusely again and he scowled, finding nothing around him to stop the bleeding except an obscenely dirty roll of toilet paper.

He would rather bleed to death. Just as he was contemplating using his omnitool to sear the wound, the door to the Port-A-Potty swung open.

"Tal –_ Jack!"_ Garrus gaped at the heavily tattooed woman, who looked just as surprised to see him. He hadn't accompanied Shepard on the mission to the Academy, so this was the first time seeing her in nearly a year. He'd heard that she was on Earth with her squad of biotic students, but he hadn't expected to find her here. Jack looked..._different._

"Garrus?" Jack scowled. "What are you doing in here? Turians pee in toilets?"

"Not if a human Port-A-Potty was the last hole in the universe." Garrus was glad to see her, even if she still hadn't stopped scowling. Probably because of the smell. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Most of my squad was gunned down. The rest of us are looking for a retreat, and heard Shepards base was near here."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. We knew what we were doing," Jack looked down at Garrus's leg and her expression softened. "Damn. They got you good."

"I'm about to..." Garrus hesitated. "Do you have...?"

"This is the last bit of it," Jack said, as she crouched down to apply more medigel. "This won't do much though. You need a doctor."

"It's better than nothing." Garrus sighed at the cooling relief her medigel gave him. "How'd you know I was in here?"

"I didn't. I just really needed to take a shit, okay?"

Garrus barked out a laugh. _"Humans."_

"Hey, fuck you, you oversized turtle," Jack grinned. "Seriously, though. It's not completely awful to see a familiar face out here."

"Likewise, Jack. Good to see you," Garrus nodded. "Are you alone?"

"No. Are you?"

"I was just with Tali, but she took off to...signal a shuttle to pick us up."

"The twitchy little quarian is still alive?"

Garrus frowned. It was nice to see the woman was still highly proficient at ruining good conversations."Yes, she is. Now I know you can't spare a scrap of cloth from your clothes without being dangerously close to full nudity, but I need something more to help stop the bleeding."

Jack rolled her eyes and effortlessly ripped the sleeve from one of her leather jackets. Without an ounce of gentleness she wrapped his stump and squeezed mercilessly. He resisted the urge to howl.

"There. That should slow it more, at least. Where did your quarian go?"

"That way. She went for her distress signal, so we can flag down our shuttle."

"Good. We need a ride."

Jack helped Garrus out of the Port-A-Potty and settled him on the ground. She introduced him to two young humans, a girl and a boy.

"Rodriguez and Prangley. My two best students."

"Your...students." He had heard from Shepard that Jack settled down when she got the new job. Wore actual clothing, let her hair grow, even toned down her language a bit. It was still hard to grasp, though. The fact that people allowed her to shape impressionable young minds.

"The only ones left," Jack's eyes darkened. "That's how I know they're the best."

Garrus sighed. They were little more than children, bloodied and scared. More powerful than he could ever imagine, he knew that because he knew Jack, but still. Just children.

"Pleasure," he said.

"Oh, no, the pleasure is ours!" the young female, Rodriguez, gushed. "You're Garrus Vakarian! Companion to Commander Shepard!"

"Er, yes."

"We've read so much about you!" Prangley added.

"Jack, what've you been teaching these kids?"

She shrugged. "I don't get paid to write the books. Just to make the kids read them."

"We're already in books!?"

She ignored him. "Prangley, you'll help Garrus walk. We need him to get us to Tali, this geeky quarian that likes to fiddling with things that almost electrocute her. They'll help us off this battlefield. Rodriguez, put a field around them. Eyes open, all right?"

Her students nodded obediently and Garrus couldn't help but be impressed. _Good for Jack._

"Now give me two minutes."

"Huh?"

"I told you. Nature's calling."

She slid back into the Port-A-Potty and locked the door.

* * *

**A/N - lol poop joke sorry**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: **The ME3 Extended Cut gave me so many feelings I thought I was going to have to quit this and back away from the ME universe for a while. Not MY ending, but the ones I watched on YouTube ahaha. My ending was awesome. Anyway, I'm over it. (Mostly)**

**Just keep that in mind. I was super emotional over here~**

**Also, obviously, this fic pretty much ignores the Extended Cut DLC. (Mostly)**

* * *

[CHAPTER THREE]

* * *

_- - - Earth: London - - -_

* * *

"What do you mean, she jumped out of the shuttle?" Ashley demanded.

"I mean, she saw Garrus, and jumped out to get him!" Liara repeated. In the background, Ash heard Cortez add, "We couldn't turn around and get her – we're getting shot at from every direction - but she's going to flag us when she's ready. After we get her we'll find the Normandy."

"Tali used to be this a cute little thing," Joker pretended to wipe away a tear. "Now she's hooking up with aliens and jumping out of moving ships. They grow up so fast."

Ash ignored him. "Any sign of Vega?"

"No."

"What about...?"

"No Shepard, either. Not yet. But there are a lot of bodies out here. A lot of humans and overturned vehicles." She paused. "Cortez and I are a ways behind the Normandy, but we could still see the Conduit. I don't like that it's still there, Ash."

She knew exactly what the young asari was saying. If Commander Shepard had made it to that beam, if he made it to the Citadel, they would have known it, without a doubt. By now, if anything had gone even remotely according to plan, something would have happened. She didn't exactly know what, but _something._ It was Commander-Fucking-Shepard they were talking about.

Which could only mean that Shepard didn't make it.

She banished the thought from her mind. "Stay in contact, Liara. Find Tali. You'll know where to find us."

"Follow the horrifying trail of screams and blood, in case you get lost," Joker quipped, though even he was starting to sweat. The Normandy had taken bad hit below the port thrusters earlier and everything had been tipped dangerously to the side for a while. "EDI? Status?"

"We sustained some damage from that last blow," EDI reported. "It was not good."

"I got that," Joker's hands flew furiously and Ashley couldn't even hope to understand was he was doing. As long as he kept their ship flying. "But how not good was it?"

EDI looked at him with a disturbingly human expression. Ash knew that expression. She used it herself plenty of times, most often with her younger sister, when saying _I told you so_ just wasn't enough.

"I knew we should have installed back-ups to the back-ups of our auxiliary thrusters."

"You are just never going to let that go, are you?"

"I will be very angry at you, Jeff, if we die because you were to cheap to buy more back-ups."

"Who buys quadruple back-ups? That's just _asking_ to fail!"

"Actually, I am more likely to survive a crash," EDI said thoughtfully. "And if I do, I will make sure it is written on all reports of this battle that the reason we couldn't save Shepard, and the reason the galaxy was destroyed, was because of you."

"We are not going to die," Joker said nervously as he swung holograms around in a dizzying pattern. "Just relax, okay? Everyone relax. I have everything under control."

"What are you doing?" Ash asked.

"I'm rerouting power. I know we have to keep our power signature under wraps and be ninjas in case that big-ass Reaper sees us, but since we put the lights out on the Normandy's guns, I might as well use that to give us a little more balance."

She frowned. "How does that give us more balance?"

"Pump a little more juice into the capacitators of course."

The comm system crackled to life. "Lieutenant Commander Williams?"

"Adams?" Ash answered. Adams was alone in the engine room trying to stabilize the ship through all the chaos, but from the sounds of it he was having a very difficult time. "Are we all right?"

"Well, I just finished putting out the fires, but I'm having a bit of trouble with the port capacitators."

"What's the matter with them?"

"Theres a smoldering black hole where they used to be."

Joker swallowed. "Oops. Okay, rerouting everything the way it was..."

Ash cursed and the ship rocked again, nearly knocking her to the floor. She grabbed Joker's seat for support and glared at him and EDI.

"Keep us in the air. You understand me? Stop playing around."

She bounded towards the rear of the ship, but slowed to watch her crew in action. Ashley had placed Traynor and Chakwas at the port side hatch, with Donnelly and Daniels at starboard. She had been a little bit hesitant to put the least experienced crew member, Traynor, with the eldest and frankly, least physically able Dr. Chakwas. But the woman had been working on the field while most everyone else was still in diapers - in all those years she had to have occasionally picked up a gun.

Her logic proved correct, as Chakwas was more than competent firing her pistol at the rushing Cannibals and Marauders eager to get a piece of the Normandy as a trophy. She was friskier than she looked, and not just when sharing a bottle of brandy.

Another surprise was Donnelly and Daniels, the two engineers. She clapped them on the shoulders in encouragement. Donnelly and Daniels looked so pathetically awkward in body armor, wielding Shepard's Collector Particle Beam and Ashley's own M-97 Viper, respectively. But the two exceeded all expectations. Donnelly and Daniels were a unit. His wild power made good use of the Particle Beam weapon, her keen eye and attention to detail made her more than competent with the sniper rifle, and together they were a lethal force. It was probably why their side was so well defended – they were a perfect, dangerous balance.

"You two all right?"

Daniels lifted her helmet and wiped the sweat from her brow. "It would be really nice if we could go a little higher. Put some more distance between us and them. One of the Banshees almost made it up here."

Ashley shook her head. "You know why we can't. The ship's under heavy fire, but we stand a better chance of fighting their ground forces down here than catching that Reaper's attention up there. Shutting down our biggest power hogs and cloaking might not even be enough to keep us on the down-low."

The Reaper was frighteningly close now. It wasn't firing on them, not yet, which at least meant that something was distracting it. On the one hand, if it was the Hammer squad and Shepard, maybe they were still alive. Maybe there was still hope.

On the other, that was still a big fucking Reaper shooting at them.

"I know, I'm just saying. It'd be nice."

"I don't know about you,darlin', but I'm having a ball!" Donnelly exclaimed, firing directly into a swarm of Ravagers below. The exploded with a satisfying splattering noise. "Woo-hoo! That's for kidnapping me and trying to suck out my juices, you bastards!"

Daniels looked worriedly at the ground speeding past. "We aren't _too_ low, though, are we?"

Ashley rubbed her neck sheepishly. "That last hit knocked out a few important things over on the port side, so we're experiencing a few technical difficulties. I'm going to see Adams now - "

_"AAAHHHHHHHHH!"_

Ashley spun around to see Traynor dive almost completely out her port-side hatch.

"Traynor!" She leaped and just barely grabbed the Specialist by her legs, but even she was starting to slide across the Normandy's polished floor. She tried to anchor herself with her boots, but Traynor's upper half was hanging from the side of the ship and pulling her forward. "Traynor, what the hell are you doing?"

She barely heard her answer over the screams and the unmistakable roars of Brutes that sounded perilously close by.

_"Chakwas!"_

Ashley suddenly realized why she was having so much trouble pulling Traynor back in. She was hanging on to Chakwas, who must have fallen overboard. She could just see her, her hands wrapped around Traynor's in a grip so tight her fingers had gone white. Dr. Chakwas was shouting something, but Ashley couldn't understand.

"No! I won't!" Traynor shouted back at whatever Chakwas had said. Ash took a wild guess.

"Tell her to shut up, we won't drop her! I've got you!" Ash cried. "Don't let – oh, _shit._"

Because of their disabled thrusters, the port side of the ship was so close to the ground now, and moving so slow, that Chakwas actually did have a chance of possibly surviving the fall.

Surviving the boisterous herd of Brutes closely trailing them was an entirely different story, though.

Donnelly and Daniels came around and each grabbed one of Traynor's legs. Together, the three of them started to hoist Traynor in. When her face came into view, they saw she was bright red and shouting.

"Stay with me, Doctor! Don't let go!"

They scrambled over Traynor and finally pulled Chakwas into the ship. Even Ash had to gasp at what lay before them. The older woman appeared to have been completely mauled from the waist down. Already the floor was staining with her blood, and her breaths were shallow and weak.

"You're...you're okay, Doc. You're okay," Ash lied. Dr. Chakwas' pained expression changed into a pitying one. She never did tolerate liars.

Daniels sobbed, her hands shaking as she tried to gather enough bandages from Chakwas's kit, which she had left just by the hatch. "Medigel! We need medigel! Donnelly, get to the Medical Bay – there's more there!"

"No." Chakwas gasped. "No. Get Jeff."

"Joker? Why?" Daniels looked at Donnelly. "What are you doing? Go get the medigel!"

"Donnelly. Stay here."

"Go!"

Donnelly looked torn, halfway between crouching and standing. In the end, though, he listened to Chakwas. He crouched down next to her and looked at her hopelessly. "Dr. Chakwas - "

"I want to die surrounded by friends, Donnelly. Don't deny me that." The doctor's throat rattled, and for the first time she sounded very much her advanced age. "Lieutenant Commander Williams understands that, don't you, Ashley?"

Ash, who had remained mostly silent, simply nodded. She spoke softly into her communicator.

"Joker, get out here."

"Something wrong, LC?"

"Yes."

Joker cut the link abruptly, and they heard him struggle with the door to the bridge and CIC, which had been knocked slightly off its slider in one of the blasts. EDI must have told him what happened in the cockpit.

Traynor shook her head desperately.

"No...no, don't say that," she pleaded. "We can patch you up. We just need..."

Chakwas shut her eyes and mustered up what energy she had left to bark out a short laugh. "Young lady, I'm the doctor here."

Ashley quietly began trying to bind her wounds. Traynor was never a field agent, or a doctor. She didn't know what a fatal injury looked like. Dressing Chakwas's wounds would do nothing to save her life, and very little to prolong it. All it would really do was give her the dignity and respect she deserved. Chakwas was there on the first Normandy, when she was a lowly Gunnery Chief living in the disgraceful shadow of her forefathers. She knew Ashley before any of this, and remained her friend despite everything she'd done. Despite her actions on Horizon.

Dr. Chakwas knew the true meaning of loyalty. Not to the Alliance, but to people. Individual people that she cared about. She never knew it, but Chakwas was everything Ashley was not.

She swallowed the emotions welling up inside her and pulled tight as Traynor babbled about what happened. How their side had tipped so low, one of the Brutes managed to leap up and snag Chakwas in its mouth. How Traynor managed to shoot it, but it was too late. Traynor blamed herself, and Ash would never say it out loud, but she blamed her too. It was her fault this was happening. It was her fault Dr. Chakwas was dying. If only she'd have been a better shot...

Even though it wasn't her fault. Ash was the commanding officer on the Normandy. She was the one dealing out assignments, and she was supposed to lead them. It wasn't Traynor's fault that she wasn't good with a gun, but it was Ash's fault that someone who _was_ good with one wasn't there with them.

But none of that would help them now.

Dr. Chakwas noticed Ashley's silence. She raised and hand to cup her chin.

"You may not realize it, dear, but you've grown up a lot since I first saw you," she whispered. "You were a little girl back then, believe it or not. Look at you now. A Spectre. A woman."

"I don't deserve any of it."

Chakwas choked out a laugh. "Yes, you've definitely grown up. You know why? I see you there, sitting in guilt, blaming it all on yourself. Only a true Commander shoulders everything. Only a true Commander is that much of a fool."

Ash had to look away from her face, otherwise she would lose all resolve. She focused instead on the bandages. "Gee, thanks."

Dr. Chakwas pulled her back. "Now, for God's sake, get over Horizon!"

Ash froze.

"You still hate yourself for it. For abandoning the Normandy. For leaving Shepard. For almost siding with Udina."

Everyone was quiet now. Staring. Joker had joined them and was looking at her expectantly. There was no point in lying now.

"Yes."

Chakwas gripped her hand tightly. "The point is, you never did side with Udina, did you? You trusted Shepard and your own instincts. In the end, you made the right decision. That's growth, Ashley. That was you taking your first steps into being a hero, and I never saw you as the type of woman that took any steps back. You need to realize that if you're going to command this ship. _My _ship."

Ash sat back on her heels, completely at a loss of what to say. She didn't need to say anything. Chakwas was saying it all.

"Promise me this, Lieutenant Commander Williams. Promise me that if we meet again too soon, if we see each other in whatever heaven it is you believe in, that you will have died without regret. Like I said, a true Commander is fool enough to blame herself for everything, but a true _hero _knows enough to eventually forgive herself."

"O-Okay..."

Her eyes sparkled with what little life she had left. "I am so very proud of you. Now budge over and let Joker in. I have a big, theatrical goodbye for him, too."

Joker didn't cry. His jaw was set in a hard line and he stared at her, as if blinking would suddenly make her go away. Dr. Chakwas handed him a key, told him it opened a cabinet in the Med Bay that held all his medicines, plus a formula for him to make more. She revealed that he, above all others, was the reason she stayed on the Normandy through thick and thin.

"You're a son to me, Jeff. Joker. You always have been."

At that point, Ashley stood up and started to usher everyone back. Joker was breaking down. It was a private moment, to be shared between the two of them, and no one else had the right to invade. They didn't leave, though, honoring Chakwas's request to die surrounded by friends. Vaguely, she noticed that the ship had slowed and was starting to land.

EDI. She must have found a safe spot to land temporarily.

When the time came and Chakwas drew her last breath, Ashley gave Joker exactly twenty minutes before kneeling down next to him. She touched his shoulder and he released his trembling grip on the still-warm shoulders of their friend. The remaining crew stood respectfully behind them as Ashley drew a sheet, brought on deck by Adams, over her body.

As far as she knew, she was the only one on board who actually believed in a religion. But to Ashley, this is what it meant to be alive. This sort of thing was exactly what they were fighting for. The right to feel, and to mourn. So the Reapers and the rest of the galaxy would have to wait for just ten more fucking minutes.

She knelt down and clasped her hands.

_"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless her and keep her..."_

When she was done, she suddenly felt immeasurably foolish. It was as if Dr. Chakwas's no-nonsense attitude had returned just to scold her. "_Didn't you listen to a word I had just said?"_ They were in the middle of a _war. _She was the acting Commander of the Normandy. Shepard wouldn't have wasted precious time like this.

Would he?

She hastily got up and ordered Adams and Traynor to deposit the body in the Med Bay and lock its doors.

"I want to bury her," Joker said evenly.

"Not now," Ashley said, her heart pounding in her ears. She wanted to bury her too, but it just wasn't the time. They would, though. Dr. Karin Chakwas would get the funeral she deserved.

"Ash - "

"Lieutenant Commander Williams," Ashley snapped. Chakwas was right. She was not the type of woman to step backwards. They had a mission to do. She decided it didn't matter what Shepard would have done, and it didn't matter what Chakwas would have thought. She was in charge, and she wasn't going to lose anyone else. "Everyone, back to their posts. We have a lot to do and very little time to do it."

"Please," Traynor pleaded. "We just lost a friend. Joker - "

"Joker can handle it. We're going. Everyone back to their posts, or I'm ejecting you from the Normandy myself."

She looked at Joker, trying her damnedest to look stern. "When this is over..."

Joker just nodded.

"Tell EDI you'll be flying the ship alone. I know you can do it. We need EDI covering Traynor. I'm firing the Normandy's guns back up. If the Reaper's catch the power signature then we're just going to have to deal. We're close enough anyway that it won't matter soon."

He nodded again and saluted.

"Aye, aye, Commander."

He limped away and shut the cockpit doors behind him. Her heart fell, but this was how she was going to do it. This was Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams's ship, and she was going to find her own balance between humanity and war. She would define herself from now on.

And maybe some day someone else could be proud of her again.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Wow, sorry for taking really long to upload this one. I'm having a busy summer, which I guess is a good thing :-)**

* * *

[CHAPTER FOUR]

* * *

_- - - Earth: London - - -_

* * *

Tali found her Husk almost immediately. It was alone, evidently abandoned by its fellow Husks, and staggering around in circles clutching at its throat. Apparently the bits of him that were Reaper-outfitted didn't include the windpipe. She raised Garrus's Vindicator, then thought better of it. A rifle this size would obliterate the Husk, and their transmitter with it. She had to do it the old fashioned way.

Steeling herself, she raised the rifle like a club and charged towards the Husk, ready to melee the transmitter out of its throat. "Come here, you grimy little _bosh'tet!_"

_"AWWWWWWWWRRR!"_

Something roared and Tali stopped in her tracks. For one completely deluded second, she thought it was the Husk. But firstly, Husks didn't roar like that, and more importantly, it was coming from behind her. She whipped around and felt her stomach drop.

The Brute roared again and the sheer fury of the sound alone nearly knocked Tali onto her back. She raised Garrus's rifle awkwardly and fired on instinct, earning herself a painful new bruise to her shoulder. Garrus wasn't kidding about his weapon's kickback. The shot blasted off one the the Brute's armor plates, which succeeded only in making it angrier. It rushed at her, and Tali had no time to set up another shot.

This wasn't the first time she'd fought a Brute, but it was the first time she was alone, with a gun she could barely fire. Tali unleashed a few Combat Drones, but she knew they would do little against the monster. Her best option was to hope the Drones drew its rage and then run for cover. Thankfully, they did, and the Brute swatted wildly at them. The motion of its arms swept up dirt around them like a whirlwind, which Tali counted on to shield her from its sight.

Meanwhile, the Husk galloped around the battle in confusion.

_"You!"_ Tali unloaded the last of her Drones to buy herself more time and chased after the wretched thing.

The Husk seemed to realize that all hell was breaking loose around it, and started to run away. Tali sprinted after it, but it was too fast. Garrus's gun was weighing her down, so she dropped it in the dirt and ran. The Husk was infuriatingly agile. When Tali dove for it, it changed direction and Tali ended up with a breathing vent full of dust.

In all the years this war had been stewing, Tali was pretty sure this was the most angry she had ever been at the Reapers.

The Brute roared again, and Tali just knew. Her Drones were all destroyed. She was out of time.

It came upon her astoundingly fast and lowered its massive, spiked shoulder. It would charge, and Tali wouldn't even have the dignity of being thrown aside. Under that kind of force, her body would simply explode in slimy pieces. At the very least, she probably wouldn't feel much.

Just as she was trying decide her last words, while at the same time cursing the fucking Husk that seemed to know it had eluded capture and was back to running around in circles, a blue force field appeared around her.

The Brute noticed too late and smashed directly into the dome-shaped barrier. It howled in agony as it crushed itself against the field and fell back.

"Liara...?" Tali called tentatively.

"Wow, that nerdy bitch is still alive too? How did Shepard manage that?"

_"Jack?!"_

Jack was grinning as she hopped over a pile of rubble and strode over. She was carrying Garrus's rifle and aimed it right at the disabled Brutes head.

"I don't think you should shoot so close - "

_BOOM!_

They were both knocked back, and the upper half of the Brute was reduced to mush. Jack dusted herself off and extended a hand to the exhausted quarian. "Relax, we're fine."

_RRRRRrrrRRRRRAAAARRRR!_

"Or, uh, not."

"Another one incoming!" Tali shouted. She pointed at the behemoth bounding towards them.

Jack hesitated and raised the Vindicator. "God, how does Garrus use this fucking thing all the time?"

She fired a wild shot that managed to bowl the Brute over, but not for long. It bounded back to its feet and charged. Tali knew that biotics expended massive amounts of energy, and it probably took Jack almost all she had left to cast that first barrier. She didn't think she had much left in her to save them again. Tali grabbed Garrus's gun and lined up another shot, only to find the clip empty.

"Jump!" She cried. They dove in opposite directions, just barely avoiding the Brute's lethal barrage. It was so big, its own momentum kept it from turning around immediately, and it began to circle back for another tackle.

_ RRRRRRRrrrrrrrrr..._

A new roar, different, but equally as close.

"What's that?"

"A ship!" Tali bolted towards the new noise, with Jack at her heels. "It's a ship!"

"Rodriguez! Prangley! This way!" Jack shouted. Out of the corner her eye, Tali saw two young humans emerge from a decimated building, struggling to carry something very large over the piles of debris. She gasped in relief.

"Oh, _Garrus!_"

"Hurry up! Oh, for fuck's sake - " Jack shouted. The Brute noticed the fresh meat and changed direction, ready to pummel the humans and Garrus as they staggered. "Would you fucking run?! Go!"

They ran, but could go only so fast with Garrus over their shoulders. Jack's face twisted with indecision, but Tali could already see it. Whoever those humans were, Jack cared for them. And if there was one thing she knew for certain about the human biotic, it was that if she cared about something, she would destroy the universe around her to get it. Garrus was holding her humans back and the order to abandon him was just at the tip of her tongue.

"Look out!" Tali cried suddenly, as Jack opened her mouth. Jack faltered, just enough time for Tali to jump up and tackle her to the ground.

"The fuck do you think you're doing?!"

"Everyone duck!"

"Ducking isn't going to – _oh, my God!_"

Jack saw what Tali had seen just over her head. A small, domed ship zoomed over them, blowing dust and debris in their faces. Jack was completely blind, but Tali's helmet allowed her to see the ship hesitate in mid-air, then unceremoniously crash land directly on top of the Brute. The resulting explosion blew the two humans and Garrus backward, but Tali could see that they were safe. The three of them were pulling themselves upright in the dirt, and the Brute was very clearly dead.

"Hey, so, listen. If you touch me again I swear I'll rip your helmet right off your shoulders with your head still in it, okay?" Jack spat. Tali ignored her.

"Garrus?" she cried, stumbling over to them. She engulfed as much of Garrus as she could into a tight hug.

"I'm fine, Tali," Garrus said, rubbing her back gently. "Thanks to these two. And Jack, of course."

"Rodriguez," the girl introduced herself. "And this is Prangley."

"I'm - "

"Tali'Zorah!" Prangley blurted. Tali looked at Garrus, who grinned.

"Apparently we're famous. Who knew?"

Jack growled as she rubbed the dirt from her eyes. "Okay, great, we're alive. But someone care to tell me _what the unholy fuck was that?!_"

"Whatever it was, it took care of the Brute." Tali said, gazing at the flaming remains of the ship. It was still mostly intact, but the entire bow of the ship had been blown out on impact. "That was a bad crash, though, I don't know if anyone could have - "

Just then, a hatch she hadn't noticed opened up and a ramp appeared. It seemed to be broken, and they heard a few frustrated attempts at ramming it forward before it finally started to slide out, bit by bit. When it became evident that the ramp wouldn't budge any further, and that it was too short to reach the ground at the angle of the wreck anyway, the ship's two lone occupants dropped out of the hatch. One fell in an ungraceful heap, cursing as he rolled onto his knees. The other landed daintily on two high-heeled boots, as if she'd just descended a short flight of stairs.

"Jacob!" Garrus cried. "Jacob Taylor! Never been more glad to see you!"

He made an effort to walk up to them, practically using Tali as a crutch. She didn't mind, as she was just as glad to see him as he was.

"You've been better, I see," Jacob noted, slinging his rifle over his shoulder and shaking Garrus's hand firmly. Beside him, Miranda Lawson clipped a pistol to her belt and fumed.

"What the hell kind of military ship doesn't have any weapons?" She barely glanced at the rest of them, too busy glaring daggers at their wrecked transport. "Not so much as a pointy stick on it. What were they thinking?!"

"We were former Cerberus scientists led by a former Cerberus soldier," Jacob said reasonably. "You think the Alliance was going to supply me with an _armed_ ship?"

"Not a single cannon," Miranda went on in disbelief. "We had to kill a Brute by _landing on it_. They might as well have let us fly in on a bloody bicycle."

Jack's lip quirked. "Let me guess. Daddy's Girl had herself a flying space-bike as a kid, did she?"

Miranda tore her glare off the ship and refocused it on Jack.

Tali transferred Garrus onto the support of Jacob's shoulder and quickly stepped between the two women. She remembered the last time they got in a fight, and they didn't have Shepard around this time to break it up.

"Too soon, Jack. Way too soon," Tali said. By now, everyone knew what had happened at Sanctuary. It was all over the Alliance News, thanks to Allers. The Alliance never was one to play down a victory over Cerberus.

Neither woman chose to respond, instead backing away from each other quietly. Jack rejoined her humans, who Garrus introduced as her students. Prangley and Rodriguez looked positively starstruck at the arrival of Jacob and Miranda. Jacob welcomed their awed questions, while Miranda hung back uncomfortably.

Miranda Lawson had never attempted to endear herself to Shepard's crew during her time on the Normandy. Aside from Shepard and Jacob, Tali doubted she ever even spoke to anyone else if it didn't regard the mission. Even Jack had participated in the occasional poker game in the lower decks, and it didn't hurt that her story painted her more as a victim, despite that fact that she was an insufferable bitch most of the time. Miranda had no such history to support her image, only the fact that she grew up in a privileged lifestyle, complained about it, then joined up with Cerberus.

Tali understood, to an extent, that she was not as awful as at least half the crew saw her. Partly because of how brave she was to overcome with influence of her father, and rescue her sister. But mostly because Shepard had so obviously fallen for the woman, and he was not a stupid man. She doubted even in love that the Commander would make the wrong judgement. Her faith in Shepard allowed her to cast aside Miranda's reputation and, instead of taking Garrus back on her shoulder, she stood next to Miranda in a sign of solidarity.

Hopefully, in the name of Shepard and her own race, she would be able to fully integrate herself with the crew, cast off her past completely, and ally herself with the Alliance.

"The Alliance are a troupe of bastards, and I'm not sorry for saying it," Miranda grumped.

Or not.

"At least, the ones who assigned us that ship are," Jacob laughed. He was Cerberus as well, but in addition to being infinitely more charismatic, he never made the impression that his loyalties lay with Cerberus. Jacob always was and always would be loyal to Shepard. Miranda had a tougher road ahead of her, despite her relationship with the Commander. It had to be difficult, surrounded only by people who didn't quite trust her.

"How did you two even get here?" Garrus interjected quickly. "Last I heard, you were holding down the fort at Huerta Memorial with Dr. Cole. And Miranda, weren't you supposed to be laying low with your sister?"

Jacob shrugged. "There is no Huerta Memorial anymore. Luckily, Brynn and I took off before the Citadel went to hell. An Alliance facility needed her team here in this system, to work on the Crucible. Then we got the call to bring our entire lab to Earth. So I dropped the white coats off and then came here to help you guys. Last transmission we got was from this area, so..."

He cocked his head at Miranda, who appeared to be scanning their surroundings for threats, almost mechanically. "On our way to Earth we were hailed by an Alliance fighter. That's where we found Miranda."

"You were seized by the Alliance?" Tali asked her.

"More like she seized them," Jacob smirked.

Miranda seemed distracted, but spoke up. "I had to get here by any means necessary. When I spoke with Shepard yesterday... It occurred to me later that despite that man's infuriating optimism, he may need some help."

Jack scowled. "Then why didn't you join up with the Normandy earlier? Wanted to be fashionably late for the party?"

"Same reason you didn't. I have people who need me now," Miranda nodded her head towards Rodriguez and Prangley, who were utterly content not saying anything and just watching their heroes bicker. They definitely watched way too much of Allers' show. "So save the lecture, all right? My little sister already had a go at me and I'm already feeling appropriately dirt-like. We're all here now, so let's just go find – oh, hang on a minute."

She raised her pistol and fired a headshot at the frantic Husk they had all forgotten about. "That bastard's been bugging me since we landed."

Tali squealed and scrambled desperately for it. "No! Oh, _Keelah..."_

Everyone looked at her, then to Garrus, as if they just knew he was the only one with the explanation.

"She, uh...the Husk took our beacon. We need it so the Normandy can find us," Garrus explained as Tali frantically picked at the pieces of the fallen Husk's head. She dug her hands deep into the creature's neck. The flesh made an odd combination of organic squish-noises as well as synthetic sparks and pops.

"Damn it, Miranda, do you have to shoot at _everything_ you see?!" Tali said, despite knowing full well she shouldn't have.

Surprisingly, if Miranda had any biting retorts for her, she held them back, instead going for a gently sardonic, "Well, this is a warzone, so...yes?"

Tali's fist emerged from the Husk, clutching a beacon that was very clearly damaged. She threw it at the ground angrily. "Sorry. It's not your fault. It's mine."

"It's not your fault," Garrus said firmly. "Can't we just use the communications on Jacob and Miranda's ship to flag someone down?"

Tali brightened. "That's a great idea!"

"If anything on that junker still works," Miranda grumbled. Jacob was already climbing into the wreckage of their ship. Tali scurried into the debris after him, hoping they could salvage something of use.

Jacob pulled up a sheet of metal and motioned for Tali to duck under it. She scrambled around the sparking, burning ruins of the ship for something, anything intact. Jacob adjusted his grip on the metal, which Tali had recognized as a torn bit of the hull, and let out a short, gasping laugh.

"Jesus."

"Just a few more minutes, Jacob, I think I've identified the control panel in all this."

"No, no, I'm fine," he grunted. "I was just thinking, it's just like old times."

"When have we ever in either of our lives done anything remotely like this?"

"Not this specifically. Just you, crawling around in mechanical things. Me being the muscle. Jack swearing like a sailor. Miranda using all her energy to stop herself from blowing us all up in a biotic fit of impatience. Garrus watching from a safe distance and laughing at us internally. It's nice."

Tali stopped to look up at him, wishing he could only see her exasperated expression through her helmet. As it turned out, he didn't need to.

"Don't make that face. I spent the last year acting as a watchdog for a bunch of scientists in the middle of nowhere. Excuse me if I'm a little deprived of entertainment."

She glanced over at the rest of the group. Miranda had allowed Garrus onto her shoulder and patiently tolerated Prangley and Rodriguez's enthusiastic interrogation, while Jack rolled her eyes dramatically behind them. It might have been a trick of the flickering fire around them, but she could have sworn she saw the corners of Miranda's mouth perk up in amusement at the faces Jack was making.

"Maybe not _exactly_ like old times."

"Yeah," Jacob said absently. He had long gotten bored watching her fiddling in the electronics panel and was watching them as well. "Maybe better?"

Tali pulled up a small white box connected to the former control panel by a few thin wires. Carefully, she used a small attachment she'd installed in her omnitool to snip it free.

"I certainly hope so."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Just a reminder that this story will NOT acknowledge any DLC that has been released or will be released in the future. I might reference something at some point or another, but plot points introduced in DLC will never be focused on. Or, not really, anyway.**

* * *

[CHAPTER FIVE]

* * *

_- - - Earth: London, Aboard the Shuttle - - -_

* * *

Garrus, Tali, Jack, Rodriguez, Prangley, Liara, Cortez, and Miranda were all crammed comically into into the tiny shuttle. It all made Miranda wonder if the crew had always been a cartoon, or if it only became like this after she left the Normandy.

Cortez barely had enough elbow room to properly maneuver the craft. Jack had barely enough elbow room to not accidentally elbow her in the cheek, though Miranda suspected she was doing that on purpose. Garrus was the one that took up the most room. He might as well have been a krogan, even as they tried their best to plant him in a corner where he would take up less space. His wound was starting to look worse, though it was far from the worst Miranda had ever seen.

The worst being, of course, Shepard's dead body.

"Here, Garrus, you need to elevate that," she said, jutting out her own knee and resting Garrus's stump on top of it. "It seems like a silly thing to do, all things considered, but elevation really does make loads of difference."

"Thanks, doc," Garrus grimaced at the new position, but didn't complain. Tali nodded at her appreciatively, and Miranda wondered, not for the first time, if her relationship with Shepard's crew still couldn't be improved.

Commander Shepard really did change her. Miranda had heard the murmurings herself during their mission against the Collectors. By the time they were preparing to enter the Omega 4 Relay, the crew was whispering that she actually smiled now. That her presence was less icy, and some people had actually made an effort to say hello to her in passing, instead of shying away cautiously. Of course, none of those things meant complete trust, but it was a start.

When Shepard was grounded and just before the Normandy crew disbanded, she had actually gotten a few knocks on her door. Thane had said it was an honor to fight at her side. Kasumi peeked in to say goodbye with a knowing wink and giggle. Jacob made his usual formal salute, along with their now-customary bottle of champagne. Joker hassled her through the loudspeaker in her quarters, and luckily for him, it was after Miranda had finally begun to understand his sense of humor.

Garrus in particular made Miranda feel almost uncomfortably gracious – he offered his assistance in helping Miranda escape. He knew now that she'd officially turned her back on the Illusive Man, she had to go into hiding for a while. Jacob was Cerberus, but not like Miranda had been. The Illusive Man would take Miranda's betrayal personally, and Miranda officially had something to lose in that fight.

She was sure that before the suicide mission, Garrus didn't quite trust her. He'd said as much to Shepard behind closed doors, where he thought Miranda couldn't hear. But she was also sure that after the Omega 4 Relay, he did.

Knowing that she wasn't completely alone, even without Oriana or Shepard, made being packed tight in a tin can full of misfits just slightly more tolerable.

"We've got all of them,"Cortez was saying into the panel.

"All of them?" She recognized Joker's voice and it made her smile, in spite of herself. "What do you mean?"

"I mean we picked up a few stragglers," Cortez craned his neck around and winked at his passengers. "And not just any stragglers. You'll never guess who - "

"Argh! Prangley, would you aim those big torpedo feet away from my ass, please? Shit, you're practically wearing me like a fucking shoe!" Jack squirmed away from the boy, pressing Miranda more tightly into the wall. She bristled, any warm feelings she had for her companions lost.

"Bloody – do you have to keep moving like that? We each have about a quarter of an inch of personal space and I'd like mine to be free of your breasts."

"Was...was that Jack? And...Miranda?"

"Good guess," Jacob said dryly.

"And Jacob! Is that what you guys have been up to? Building a time machine and traveling back to eight months ago?" Joker paused. "Did you...find anyone else?"

Garrus had to raise his voice to be heard from his small corner at the back of the shuttle. "Just me."

"Garrus. How are ya, beautiful?"

"Let's just say you'll finally be beating someone at footraces from now on."

"Uh-oh."

"He's going to need some serious treatment when we get to the Normandy," Liara said, eyeing his stump from where she was perched, almost in Cortez's lap. Miranda was at least thankful that turian physiology was so hardy. A human wouldn't have survived the rocket to the face Garrus had taken nearly a year ago, and almost certainly wouldn't have survived a bleeding stump for this long.

"Chakwas is going to have her work cut out for her," Miranda said.

There was a long radio silence before a set of coordinates popped up on the screen before them. Liara and Cortez both leaned forward and frowned.

"Is that your current location? That's miles back from where we were headed," Liara noted. "What happened?"

There was still no answer, until EDI's voice cut in.

"We had to double back for an emergency landing. We lost Chakwas."

Miranda almost felt the shudder rock through their shuttle. She had known Chakwas for a relatively short time, but she knew how close the doctor was to Joker and Shepard. She opened her mouth to say something comforting, but couldn't think of anything to say. She didn't imagine her words would mean much, anyway. It seemed everyone else was also at a loss.

"I was just about to tell them!" Joker grumbled. "Aren't you supposed to be covering Traynor?"

"Jeff - "

"Whatever! Just watch out back there and let me handle this," Joker snapped uncharacteristically. "Yeah, a Brute got Chakwas and the Reapers are officially on my shit list. Business as usual."

"Joker, I'm sorry," Liara said finally. "I know she - "

"It's fine," he said hastily. "We're at war here, you know."

"Yes, well...all right. You're closer to our location, then, we'll see you soon."

Cortez tapped a few buttons on his steering column, determinedly not looking up. "Give us five minutes for rendezvous. We're all packed in the Kodiak so tight, I can barely breathe. I'm going full burn, so it'll be quick."

"See ya."

Joker cut the link and no one in the shuttle spoke. Tali was gently stroking Garrus's thigh, sad about Chakwas of course, but no doubt worrying about who would treat him now. Miranda wondered when, exactly, those two had started. Certainly not during her time on the ship. When she was aboard the Normandy, Tali was still harboring that schoolgirl crush on Shepard. And when Garrus wasn't busy calibrating everything bolted down to the ship, he mostly just played poker with crew. He never seemed to have a romantic interest in anyone.

Clearly, a lot had happened while she was gone.

"When we get back to the Normandy I can patch this up adequately," she said.

Garrus gave her what was probably a turian eyebrow-raise. "Well, you are pretty well-versed in building humans almost from scratch. How are you at turian foot construction?"

Miranda shrugged. "You never know until you try, right? Just do it and hope it works. Don't ever tell Shepard this, but that was basically my motto during the Lazarus Project."

Jack barked out a laugh. "Who would have known you had a sense of humor?"

"I don't joke," Miranda said. "I may not be able organically grow you a replacement foot, Garrus, but with Tali's help we can probably engineer you the greatest bionic foot in the galaxy."

"We'll make it shoot lasers," Tali added.

"Oooh, baby, you know how I love things that shoot lasers."

"We'll give you three," Miranda went on, "One mounted on each toe. Or maybe forget the toes. You look like you can handle balancing with three guns for a foot."

"If I chop off my other leg, can you do that one too?"

Jacob smirked and shook his head. "The sad part is, I halfway believe you people aren't kidding."

"I told you, I don't joke."

Tali nodded. "I installed a few engineering programs to the CPU in my helmet a few weeks ago. I already have a rough schematic saved."

From the front, Liara laughed softly. "This may actually the first time I'm not the biggest nerd on the ship."

They continued to rib on each other for a little while, and for just a single moment, Miranda enjoyed. Just one, fleeting moment. Because it was then that Miranda decided to look out the window.

"Oh, no..."

Liara looked back at her. "What?"

Miranda just stared.

* * *

_- - - Earth: London, Aboard the Normandy - - -_

* * *

Ashley carefully lined up her shot. Chances were, this wasn't the exact Brute that had taken Chakwas from them, but it would do. Her crew seemed to be more than competent taking care of the other forces, so she'd made it clear: the Brutes were hers. She had a lot anger inside her, and nothing would make her feel better than a few dozen massive headshots and Brute-brains splattered on the streets of London.

After her perfect shot, she looked up and saw the Reaper. They were using it and the Citadel beam as their nav point, their North Star. Except instead of salvation, she knew it most likely spelled death for all of them. Lord only knew what they'd find when they got there. A pile of bodies, topped with Shepard's like the cherry on a sundae.

Still, they had done a good job of clearing a path for backup forces. Putting the Normandy's guns back online made way for the small, scattered back-up Hammer squad remains to speed ahead of them.

Overhead, the Sword squad was struggling with distracting the Reapers. The Normandy had narrowly missed being hit by several ships, shot down by the Reapers just close enough to Earth's orbit to be pulled in by gravity. It wasn't quite like watching flies drop in a cloud of bug spray yet, but it was still disheartening. She wasn't sure the Sword squad had that many Allied fleets to begin with. They'd long since silenced the Alliance transmissions, filtering in only the keywords "Vakarian", "Vega", and "Shepard. But even then, all they heard were death speculations and casualty counts.

Anyway, they were no longer on an official Alliance mission. They'd out the Alliance on the backburner as soon as Joker had announced over the loudspeaker that they were fucking Shepard's orders.

"Ash, look at the Conduit!" Joker's voice exploded suddenly over the loudspeaker and she missed her second shot. She cursed.

"What?"

"The Conduit! Look at the beam!"

Ashley aimed her sights on the Reaper-guarded beam and gasped. It was flickering, like it was about to go out. The ground forces that they could see literally stopped in their tracks, confused.

The Reaper seemed to pause its onslaught momentarily, as if mildly annoyed by someone flicking the light switch straightened and looked like was about to take off, but it seemed to decide against leaving and continued its attack.

"What the hell do you think that means?!"

"I don't know!" Joker yelped. "Maybe one of the other Reapers forgot to replace the batteries or something?"

It was a joke. Just a joke. As if the Reapers made those kinds of mistakes. As if Reapers would be visibly annoyed at that kind of thing, like it would get mad and head straight up there to tell off the Reaper that forgot the batteries.

Like Reapers had those kind of feelings.

Ashley clambered out of the gunnery station and raced to the front of the Normandy, shouting orders. A thought had suddenly occurred to her.

"EDI! Patch through any and all Alliance communications, we need to hear what's going on. Joker! Get the Cortez to _haul ass_, we are officially out of time. Adams, prepare for full burn. Everyone else, batten down those hatches and get to the bridge. We're done playing around."

When she got to the cockpit, Joker was still busy trying to hurry the others to the rendezvous.

" - the quicker the better," he was saying. "If you can't go any faster, its probably because of Garrus's bulky ass. Toss him overboard and go into turbo – yes, we did just see the Conduit!"

Ashley ignored him and tried to focus on the Alliance transmission EDI was streaming. It was mostly static, some gibberish she couldn't understand, reports of the Hammer squad being completely wiped out, and then...

_"...someone made it to the beam! Someone's headed to the Citadel!"_

That shut even Joker up. They both stared in silence at the radio. It was as Ashley suspected. The fluctuation in the Citadel beam was someone being transported. Someone had made it past the Reaper.

But why didn't the Reaper seem to care?

Liara's voice crackled over the transmission.

"Did we just hear what I think we heard!?"

"Shepard?" Another hopeful voice came from behind the Ash. No one had even noticed that Donnelly, Daniels, and Traynor had joined them. EDI stood there as well.

"We cannot confirm that it was Shepard who made it to the beam," she said.

"Who else could have made it?" Traynor argued.

"No. I know it wasn't Shepard." Every other thought in Ashley's head popped like a cloud of soap bubbles. There was only one though in her brain now, one beautiful, awful realization. "But he's definitely still alive down there."

"What is she talking about?" They heard Jacob ask.

"Keep the trajectory," Ashley said firmly. She had finally seen what she'd failed to realize before. Why was this one Reaper still in London? All the other Reapers were gone, they'd joined the proper battle in Earth's orbit. They were fighting over what everyone thought was the only thing that mattered in the war – the Crucible.

This one particular Reaper, though, stuck around purposely. In all the time the Normandy had been distracted, circling around aimlessly in its airspace with its power signatures flickering on and off in indecision, the Reaper did not give them a second glance. It was focused on something. On someone.

Ashley _knew_ this Reaper.

"Someone patch me through to the Alliance – no, not that frequency. Hackett. We need to get straight to Admiral Hackett."

It only took EDI a few seconds before Hackett's blue hologram was shouting at them.

"Normandy?!" he yelled. "Where the hell have you people been!?"

"Rescue mission, sir," Ashley replied.

"Rescue – forget the rescue!" Hackett cried. "We need all forces in space! The Crucible needs to be docked on the Citadel, but all hell is breaking loose and we need reinforcements! Get over there, Williams, that's an order!"

"Sir, all due respect, we need to stay here."

"Are you disobeying a direct order - "

"Admiral Hackett," Ash interrupted. "Er, Sir. I know this Reaper. It's Harbinger."

"Harbinger..." Hackett repeated incredulously. "I saw that intel. The largest, older Reaper in their entire fleet."

"Yes." Ash nodded. "The leader. Or at least, as close to a leader as we can see."

"Are you sure? But what's he doing down there? The bulk of the fight's been around the Citadel!"

Ash nodded, shooting significant glances at her crew. All their minds seemed to be clicking at once. Joker was staring back and forth between her and Harbinger outside.

"Harbinger has some kind of personal interest in Shepard, sir. Always has. We've been watching this Reaper for a while now, and it's barely even looked up. It has its own mission, outside of the battle in space."

"Shepard..." Hackett realized. "That bastard has been after Shepard all along!"

Miranda spoke up from the shuttle, just barely audible over the chatter of their other crewmates on the shuttle.

"Shepard's been having dreams," Miranda said. "A little boy, someone he'd seen die in the Vancouver attack. He only told me one time, but it stuck with me. He had been writing them off as nerves, guilt at not saving the boy, but I suspected something more. And Shepard doesn't mention things off-hand like that unless he thinks it means something, as well. I was distracted with other things at the time, but now..."

She paused, as if ashamed of what she was about to say.

"When I first joined Cerberus, the Illusive Man mentioned having similar kinds of dreams. Something from his past haunting him, leading him somewhere."

Everyone fell silent for just a moment, letting that revelation sink in.

"It's been trying to indoctrinate Shepard," Hackett said finally.

From the shuttle, Liara agreed. "Harbinger knows what Shepard means to humanity, and to most of the galaxy. The Reapers mean to take him and throw us into chaos. Shepard united us, and they know that they are weaker against a united people. They were trying to...to..."

"_Control_ him," Miranda spat the word like it was poison. "And us."

Ashley nodded. "There's a reason Harbinger is still here, and Shepard is in the middle of it. That's why I know he has to be alive, because Harbinger is still looking for him. And if Harbinger is putting him at the top of the Reaper's Most Wanted, we need to make sure they don't have him. Look at it. That asshole saw someone get to the Citadel and he doesn't even care. This isn't about the Crucible. Not entirely."

She took a deep breath. "So...what I'm asking is for permission to resume our rescue mission with the Hammer Squad. We find Shepard and you stall them up there until we can figure this all out. "

The lines in Admiral Hackett's hologram forehead deepened.

"What are you waiting for? All ground troops focus on Harbinger and Shepard. Normandy, you are leading the charge. Keep that son of a bitch out of our sky."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: It's probably gonna get old, me apologizing for the time between chapters, so consider this an "I'm sorry!" for past, present, and future late chapters :-P On the bright side, my chapters seem to be getting longer and longer, soooo...**

* * *

[CHAPTER SIX]

* * *

_- - - London – Aboard the Normandy - - -_

* * *

"How do we take down the biggest, baddest Reaper of them all!?" Joker demanded over the loudspeaker. "With our guns we can barely give that thing a papercut!"

"I'm still working on that part," Ashley admitted. She was back at the her weapons station, palms sweating and slipping at the controls. It was an aerial dogfight, the Normandy versus Harbinger. A cockroach against a German Shepard. Mostly thanks to Joker's maneuvering, they weren't dead yet.

At best, they were simply chipping the paint from Harbinger's copper-colored exterior. Chipping in the form of dozens of AA missiles and tanks firing mercilessly from the ground. Hackett had given the order and it was like the Hammer squad had been given new strength. All firepower was being focused on Harbinger, and there was barely a scratch on it.

"We can't take it down," Liara said reasonably, her transmission from the shuttle patching through over Joker's incessant babbling. It was only Jacob, Tali and Cortez there with her now. "Not like this."

The group had decided that the shuttle was needed to help provide air cover for the remnants of the Hammer squad, so they had quickly deposited Miranda, Garrus, Jack, and her two students on the Normandy. Garrus needed medical attention, which Miranda was doing her best to provide in Chakwas's absence. Jack and the kids were practically ravenous with hunger and were more or less useless to the war effort until they'd filled their bellies.

Ash was thankful, at least, that she didn't have to greet them when they docked with the Normandy. She had the excuse of an entire war being fought under their feet, after all. She was allowed to skip the pleasantries. And the awkward meet-up with Miranda that no doubt the entire crew was both fearing and anticipating. The two women hadn't spoken directly since Horizon, and it seemed like millions of things had happened since then.

She shook off the thought. Shepard didn't love her, he loved Lawson. End of story.

Ashley fired a shot that missed its target entirely. She groaned and lined up a new one, which also pinged harmlessly off the armor of a Cannibal. _Okay, maybe Miranda's presence onboard was affecting her a little. _

"If anyone has a corral of maybe twenty thresher maws they neglected to tell us about, now would be a good time," Joker said. His voice had a hysterical twinge to it, as he desperately weaved around Harbinger's attacks and their own troops from the ground. It was a frenzy of wildly fired canons down there.

Ashley clenched her teeth. They were going to have to take care of Harbinger eventually, after finding the Commander. Shepard had taken down Reapers before. The first was Sovereign, who was taken down by an entire fleet only after his shields were disabled. Smaller destroyer-class Reapers had been taken down by regular fighters and ground forces. The one on Tuchanka was felled by a single thresher maw. Somehow, Ashley figured it wouldn't be all that simple for Harbinger.

She aimed for a particularly large Brute. Bigger than the rest in its herd. It actually would be harder to miss than it would be to hit.

She missed.

"Can we nuke him?" Joker wondered out loud. She didn't hear the familiar echo of a shipwide broadcast, so she knew the question was only being asked at her weapons station.

"Maybe," Ash said absently. "We'd have to be careful not to blow a chunk out of our own planet, though."

"Right. So...Miranda's here, huh?"

She scowled. "Subtle."

"Is it really weird? You two have never been on the same ship before, have you?"

"This is not the time."

"There may never be a time," Joker pointed out. "We could die in the next three minutes. You really want to die without letting all that off your chest?"

"Yes."

"Um, Ash, I'd rather you let it all out. You're not doing anyone any favors shooting at those poor piles of dust and debris down there. Honestly, what did they ever do to you?"

He'd noticed. She sighed. If he wasn't going to leave her alone, she might as well indulge.

"I'm not good enough to be Lieutenant Commander. Not good enough to be a Spectre. Happy?"

She left the rest unsaid, but she knew Joker heard it in her tone. _Not good enough for Shepard._

"All right, well. I'm just gonna throw this out there, then: Miranda was an ice-cold bitch before Shepard softened her up. And Shepard was an ice-cold corpse before Miranda got a hold of him. It wasn't easy for him after Saren, everyone had turned against him. Not just you, either. It's not like as soon as new broke out he was alive, everyone came running back, you know. Everyone had moved on, had other business to attend to. He all but had to drag everyone back himself. With Miranda's help."

"Joker - "

"I'm just saying! It's not anything you did. You were great. You were you. And frankly, you were right. But I've just never seen two fucked up people fit more perfectly than the Commander and Miranda Lawson. _That's_ why they happened. Not because of you. They needed each other, and they found each other."

Shepard and Miranda had to have overcome some crazy odds to come together the way they did. They had doubters coming from all sides, and still they persevered. In comparison, Ash's relationship with him seemed to have been one out of...convenience? Was that all it had been? It was easy to love him. They were two Alliance soldiers, cut from the same mold, trained the same way. Their life together would have been simple. Routine. Normal.

Everything Commander Shepard was not.

"There are other fish in the sea, Ash. Fish that are good enough for you. Fish that _deserve_ you."

It wasn't meant to be, and she was a good person. That's what Joker was saying. Of course, it wasn't that simple. Ashley Williams was not some silly little girl with a crush. She was a grown woman with a complicated relationship, layered with resentment, guilt, frustration, envy, and loss. It was going to take a good long talk and maybe another argument or two before anything would be completely resolved.

Still, she appreciated the pep talk. It meant more than she realized it would, to know that Joker was on her side. And maybe there was a glint of truth in what he said. Ash almost thanked him, _almost. _Instead, she snorted.

"What is _wrong_ with you?"

Joker laughed. "I just need you thinking positively if you're gonna be the one to get me out of this alive."

"And here I thought you were just being nice."

"Well, yes, that. But please don't get me killed."

"Sure." She grinned. "Just focus on the Reaper, you jerk."

"I'm trying. You sure we can't find any thresher maws?"

"This isn't Tuchanka. Idiot."

"Well, then what do we have? The Loch Ness Monster? Doesn't she live around here somewhere?"

"Scotland. And also - shut up."

"Aye, aye, Commander."

Ashley unlocked her gun and aimed her weapon again. A Brute exploded below them. Clean shot.

"You're welcome!" Joker sang into the speaker.

She rolled her eyes and got up. "Joker, I'm going to the Mess Hall. Have EDI take my place at the guns. Once Garrus is patched up, he'll relieve her and she can return to her station."

"You're going to – really!? Now!?"

"Really. Now."

* * *

_- - - Aboard the Normandy – Mess Hall - - -_

* * *

"The Alliance is completely lacking in style," Miranda noted bluntly. With her first step onto the Alliance-outfitted Normandy, she had already seen about a dozen things Cerberus would have done differently, if only to give off the sense of prestige. They were evil, conniving bastards, but they at least showed some pride in their own cause.

Or at the very least they showed a bit of aluminum siding to hide all the exposed plumbing. The Mess Hall was where people ate, for God's sake, and the first sight they saw were the small tubes that transported everyone's excrement to the waste disposal system?

They were all there, trying not to get thrown out of their seats as the Normandy tossed and turned. Jack, Rodriguez, and Prangley had more or less cleaned out the ship of its entire food stock. The three of them looked much better, though. Miranda herself knew just how much energy was required to keep up biotic power.

Garrus was lying on one of the tables, trying his best to keep still and not scream as Miranda worked on his stump.

"Do you have to do that here?" Jack grumbled. "You were just whining about how unappealing it was that poop is zooming around us - which we really wouldn't have realized if you hadn't said anything, thanks. How is that any worse than cauterizing someone's severed leg at the dinner table?"

"No choice," Miranda said grimly. Her fingers flew around Garrus's stump, not appearing half as unsure and nervous as she felt. "The med bay is sealed off because, well...you know. And this is the only clean, flat table I can find. Garrus, this is going to hurt."

"What? That? That didn't hurt."

Miranda looked puzzled. "I suppose turians aren't quite as sensitive there as humans are."

"I suppose not – oh, but _that_ hurts. Oh, fuck, sweet motherfucking fuck..._fuck!_" Garrus gripped the edges of the table, leaving behind deep gashes in the metal.

"Ah, that's where that nerve goes?" Miranda said in wonder. "Oh, and sorry."

"You're great, Miranda, you really are, but did Shepard ever wake up just to try and punch you in the face during his reconstruction?"

She failed to hide her smile. "I had a billion credits worth of Cerberus sedatives at my disposal."

Jack rolled her eyes and turned to her students. "Stop ogling at everything, you dorks. It's just a ship."

"It's the _Normandy,_" Prangley gaped.

"Can we see the War Room?" Rodriguez was practically drooling.

"No, you cannot."

"I'll show you two around some other time," Garrus offered kindly. At Jack's look, he replied, "What? I mean when we're not in the middle of a war. Obviously we probably won't have time today."

"Thanks!"

"Yeah, wow, thanks!"

Jack had to drag her students away from the Mess Hall as a new barrage of silly questions threatened to erupt. She was grumbling something that sounded vaguely like, "Shut up and listen, it's time to learn about guns."

"She's changed," Garrus said quietly, so Jack didn't hear as she left.

"Family does that," Miranda agreed. She tucked the edge of the final bandage in and secured it with her omnitool. Satisfied with her work, she patted the turian's thigh. "All done. How does it feel?"

"Like I had my foot blown off." Garrus shrugged. He gratefully accepted the makeshift cane Miranda had banged together out of one of the exposed drain pipes she hated so much. She had taken a lot of pleasure in ripping it out of the wall with her biotics. "But much better. Thanks, Miranda."

"You're welcome. Since you're refusing pain medication - "

"Can't fight if I'm drugged."

" - I've numbed you with a local anesthetic. You shouldn't feel a thing until sometime tomorrow, but when you do, don't come crying to me."

The door to the Mess Hall whooshed open again, but instead of Jack and her steady stream of profanity, it was Ashley Williams who stood at the doorway. Miranda grinned inwardly. She knew the woman wouldn't be able to resist. Miranda had been waiting to see her since coming aboard.

They had something very important to discuss.

"You do nice work, Lawson," she complimented. Miranda noted the politeness in her voice. Not entirely forced, but very, very intentional.

"She does," Garrus agreed, hobbling over to her. "Have you seen her previous masterpiece? About this tall, dark hair, couple scars, answers to the name 'Commander'."

"I've heard of him," Ashley grinned. "If you're up for it, Garrus, I'd like you manning the Normandy's weapons. You'll get to sit in a nice comfy chair with your leg up on the console. Send EDI back to her post?"

The ship jolted suddenly, and they all nearly toppled to the floor.

"If I make it there," Garrus grumbled. "I'll see you later, Miranda. Ash."

He made his way to the weapons station, leaving behind him an icy chill that hung awkwardly between the two women in the Mess Hall. Miranda would have had no problem is speaking first, but she had to make it known that she was aware – this was no longer her ship. That was the first step in making it work with this woman. Miranda Lawson was no longer chief executive officer of the Normandy. It was commanded by Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams now, a Spectre, and she demanded some level of respect.

Not that Miranda held much regard for titles these days.

"So..."

Miranda bit her tongue. The girl was no Shepard, at any rate.

"...Have you made yourself at home?" Williams asked conversationally. "Garrus and Tali told me how the Normandy looked under Cerberus. It sounds like they were spoiled."

"The Normandy is more than capable for our mission," Miranda said neutrally. "Look, Will – Lieutenant Commander - "

"Williams was fine."

"All right, Williams, I'd rather not beat around the bush. We haven't got much time for it, and to be honest, I haven't got much patience for it either."

"Oh, good." Williams looked surprisingly relieved. She went over and pulled a chair out for her. Miranda took it, and Williams sat across the table from her. Between them, the blue blood-stained dressings from Garrus's stump were strewn in messy heaps. "Pleasantries are exhausting, especially with someone I'm not quite sure I like yet."

Miranda smirked. Maybe she was a_ little _like Shepard.

"You wanted to talk to me, then?"

Williams nodded. "I want to know that there will be no problem between us on this mission. All that stuff, all the drama – we're saving it for afterwards. After we beat the Reapers."

"Agreed."

Williams offered her a smile and started to get out of her seat, but then backtracked. She looked at her curiously.

"I'm sorry, I know I'm the one who came down to you, but I can't shake the feeling that you meant for this to happen. That you have something to tell me," Williams said. "I thought we agreed to stop beating around the bush."

Miranda eyed Williams cautiously, mildly surprised at her intuitiveness. She knew more about her than she probably knew. Alliance soldier from a shamed legacy, a good family – sisters. Miranda knew about her tragedies, her triumphs, her armor and weapon preferences, hell, she even had a vague idea about her favorite foods. But it seemed dossiers would be useless here. Ashley Williams was more than just a file.

"I don't have any drama with you," she said finally. "I understand that you and Shepard had a relationship, and maintain a friendship even now. I don't have any problems with that, and it won't affect my working relationship with you, or him, or anyone else on this crew."

"Yeah?" Williams quirked an eyebrow.

"In fact, your closeness with the Commander is precisely why I'm glad you took the time to speak with me," Miranda continued. "Not to settle whatever silly 'drama' everyone thinks exists between us. I would just like to enlist your help."

"Help with what?"

"The mission."

Now Williams looked appropriately confused, but Miranda stayed silent. If her hunch was correct, Williams would figure it out. It all depended on whether or not Williams felt the same way she did.

"I already am here for the mission... Save Earth. Stop the Reapers. I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing." Her eyes narrowed. "It's what _you're_ doing here, that's what I can't figure out. You were in a safe place with your sister, I know that much. Your intel on Cerberus, your contacts, your heroism on Sanctuary and your tactical advice on Kai Leng were all instrumental in getting us to this point. You did more than most for this war, Lawson, yet everyone continues to shit on you because you were former Cerberus. And when this war is over, they will continue to shit on you."

Miranda knew as much. She was a useful War Asset wherever she chose to be. It probably would have been better to continue working from the safety of her sister's home. Her intelligence, battle strategies, tactics, and connections all made her the perfect behind-the-scenes player. She would have done a lot of good against the Reapers – and received none of the credit, regardless of her "pardon" with the Alliance.

"So what I don't get is why you chose to come here, onto an Alliance ship in the line of fire," Williams said. "Where you're probably the least useful to the war effort. I mean, don't get me wrong, you're helping _us_ a ton by being here. But in the big picture, you could have done better virtually anywhere else. So what are you doing here?"

"You said it yourself," Miranda said. "This isn't about the battle in space. Harbinger doesn't care nearly as much about that as he does about Shepard. That's why I'm here."

"For Shepard."

"Right. Williams, you are a fine soldier, and Commander. You should be proud. But you are Alliance. You are tied to duty. You're cursed with it. Sometimes you need to go rogue to get the job done, and I think your hesitation to falter from your duty threatens failure on your part."

"What are you talking about?" Williams demanded. "Failure on my..."

Miranda practically heard the woman's brain click.

"You don't care about the war with the Reapers," she realized. "You're here for Shepard. He's your number one priority."

"Half right, I do care very much about the war," Miranda corrected.

"But you're here primarily to save him. You think that if the Alliance, if Hackett orders me to remove our focus from Shepard, I'd do it."

"Not necessarily."

Williams scowled. "Well, you think I'd at least hesitate."

Miranda nodded, pleased that Williams about as sharp as she'd guessed. "Hesitation isn't exactly something we could afford."

"I care about Earth, first and foremost!" Williams said. "I care about humanity, and I care about not getting killed by a bunch of ancient alien toasters. If...if the time came and I had to make a choice between Shepard and...I pick humanity. I pick Earth. And that's not something I ever tried to hide."

"No, it's not," Miranda said. "And I commend you for it. I'll do everything I can to help you with your goal. The Alliance and the Normandy will lead the galaxy to victory. I'm happy about that, I really am."

Williams crossed her arms. "I'm sensing a big 'but'."

"But," Miranda indulged. "I was hoping you would help me with my goal."

"Which is?"

"I already told you."

"We're trying to save Shepard!"

"I know, but that's not the ultimate goal," Miranda said. "We both know that Earth is more important here. What I'm saying is, you and the Normandy have every ability to see this through. The reason I'm here..."

"...is to go rogue," Williams finished. "You trust us with saving the galaxy, but you don't trust that we'll save Shepard."

"Top marks."

"You're going to help us as much as you can, but if the time came, you'd abandon us to save Shepard."

"Who else will?" Miranda challenged. "He is the greatest man I ever knew, probably the greatest man you ever knew, as well. He's done more for me, you, and the entire galaxy than anyone else ever has. We all owe him, but I'm the only one hated enough, not bound by duty, to pull this off. If you lose me, you can still succeed. No one will care if I disappear. I will never be the hero. But damn if Shepard doesn't deserve his chance in the limelight!"

She clenched her hand into a tight fist. "Shepard is going to live to see the fruits of his sacrifice. He's going to enjoy the galaxy that he saved, and my mission is to make sure that happens. Whatever the cost. So you and your crew _will_ save the galaxy. I'll help. But my mission is Shepard."

Williams was looking at her with an expression that she couldn't read. Amazement, maybe. Pity, definitely.

"You know Shepard as well as I do," Miranda said. "He's shared himself, opened himself up to us more than anyone else here. What I'm saying is, the two of us know him better than anyone. So I'm asking for your help. I know you have your mission, but it would be nice to know I have someone on my side, too."

Ashley Williams stared at her for a bit longer, before a slow smile grew on her face. She held out her hand.

"You have me."

Miranda took it and squeezed. "Thank you."


	7. Chapter 7

[CHAPTER SEVEN]

* * *

_London - - - Aboard the Normandy_

* * *

The shuttle landed and Miranda greeted them in the docking bay, pushing a cart full of fuel canisters. Williams had asked to ration their fuel conservatively. They would every drop they could scrape together.

Jacob stepped off the shuttle first, wiping sweat from his brow. "Thanks for the fill-up, Miranda. It's a jungle down there. All of Cortez's fancy moves burned clear through our tanks."

"It's the same way here. The Normandy will be running low before long, as well. It's all this in-atmosphere flight. These ships weren't built for that." She started helping hoist a few tanks over to the shuttle. "I would have gotten you more, but Williams said to watch it. She's been pretty quiet. My guess is she's anticipating the Alliance will go back on the plan and try to pull us."

"Alliance," Jacob grumbled.

"Alliance," Miranda agreed. "The second they need another pawn in orbit..."

"So, you and the new LC are getting friendly?"

Miranda purposely dropped a tank, directly on his foot.

"All right, all right!" He hopped backwards, but a ghost of a smirk played on his lips. "Never mind. We'll take these tanks and - "

Suddenly, Joker's voice blasted over the loudspeaker.

"We have new reports coming him! You're all gonna wanna hear this!" He sounded panicked, as any one of them probably would at this point. But there was an edge of giddiness to the sound, indicating that this wasn't his usual inane ramblings about the Loch Ness Monster. "The transmission's coming from a Justicar land fighter on the ground. An old friend of ours brought some of her own buddies to the party."

"Samara!" Miranda realized immediately. She hadn't heard from her old squad mate in ages. She wouldn't say she and the Asari had become good friends, but she was one of the few people on the Normandy she understood. Samara had an air of dangerous pride in everything she did, an unapologetic confidence that often intimidated those around her. Miranda could relate. "That's great news."

"You think that's great? Guess what else!" Joker boomed. There was a screech of feedback as someone moved his mic. They heard a brief struggle and Ashley faintly telling her pilot to shut up and get back to flying the ship. Joker whined, but Ashley must have given him a look, because he backed off.

"Lawson?" Ashley said, her own voice also sounding just as giddy as Joker's, but also somewhat stunned and uncertain.

Miranda was mildly surprised that she was asking for her. Jacob raised an eyebrow and mouthed, _"What's going on?"_

She shook her head.

"Lawson, on the weapons bench you'll find an M-4 Shuriken and an Acolyte. Arm yourself, you're getting in the shuttle. Take the communicator in the top drawer."

Jacob scowled. "Why?"

"The Justicars have found Shepard. He's alive."

For three full seconds, dead silence. No one moved. Then, Liara's head popped out from the shuttle doors.

"Get in!" she shouted. _"Get in, get in, get in!"_

Miranda swiftly grabbed whatever she could off the weapons bench and brushed past Jacob, who didn't need telling twice. Using his biotics, he replaced the fuel tanks with the new canisters and they were already set by the time Miranda remembered the communicator, found it, and ran back to the shuttle. She barely registered Tali, Liara, or Cortez as she went straight for the communications panel. Jacob scrambled in after her and pulled the doors shut.

"Send us the transmission from Samara," Miranda said. "What is his status?"

"Unknown," Williams answered, disappointed. "We lost the connection before they could give us any details. It sounds like they were overrun."

"We did manage to rip their coordinates before they broke up," Joker spoke up from behind Williams. It sounded like he was reaching over her, fiddling with the control panel as she mumbled a few choice expletives. The Justicar's location popped onto their screen instantly, and Cortez immediately began programming the nav point.

"We'll try to draw some fire our way." she said. "If Harbinger sees the Normandy getting to close to one particular spot, it's going to suspect something. Our help is limited."

"Great," Jacob muttered.

"This won't be easy."

"Oh, really?" Tali snorted. "It won't be easy? Are you sure? You mean all the Brutes and Cannibals down there _aren't _going to lay a red carpet down for us and buff our helmets as they carry us on their shoulders feeding us levo-proteins fresh from the chem arrays?"

Joker chuckled. Williams was probably rolling her eyes.

"Liara, make sure that one behaves."

"Never was able to before, Commander."

They heard Williams hesitate, maybe at the title, maybe because of what she was going to say next.

"Tali's in charge. Everyone make sure their communicators or fully functioning. Be careful out there, guys. We need you back. All of you, if its not too much effort."

Liara and Tali murmured their assurances, but Miranda stayed silent. She had heard Williams's unspoken orders.

_ If things go to shit, let Miranda do her thing, even if it kills her. Save Shepard._

Steve was just a pilot, he only knew how to obey orders, not give them. Liara was too kind-hearted. Miranda had read as much in her Cerberus files. If the worst case scenario happened down there, Liara would try to save everyone, and maybe even die trying. Jacob was a fine soldier, able to act swiftly and intelligently in high-pressure situations, but he was former Cerberus. Just as much of a wild card as Miranda herself.

Tali was the only one with some measure of loyalty to her, who would also make the hard decisions. She was the only one who would leave Miranda behind, if she had to.

She looked at Tali, but her helmet hid everything. Liara, however, was looking at Miranda with a pained expression. She knew. Or at least, she guessed.

"Miranda - "

"Let's get out of here," Miranda said quickly. She cocked her head at Tali. "Sorry. I mean, when you're ready."

Tali nodded. "I'm guessing we don't need a full briefing on this mission?"

Miranda grinned. "Get Shepard and haul arse. Got it."

Liara sauntered past her to join Steve at the controls, touching her on the shoulder gently as she went.

"You're very pretty when you smile."

They all braced themselves as Steve steered the shuttle roughly out of the Normandy, and Miranda felt her stomach drop as they cleared. It always took a moment for her to regain her bearings with gravity shifts. Shepard always used to notice and cast a knowing look at her heeled boots, but she would plant them firmly and glare at him indignantly.

_Shepard. They found Shepard._

Just then, the communicator in her ear buzzed to life.

"Lawson?" It was Williams. "Don't answer me. Just listen... Give 'em hell out there, all right? I know you'll get Shepard out of there, but... I meant it when I said I'd like all of you back. That includes you."

Miranda kept her face carefully neutral. She discreetly adjusted the communicator in her ear as the rattling of the shuttle knocked it loose. The others were hanging on as they dove, not paying any attention to her.

"But, I mean, this is a war, right? So just in case, it was a pleasure meeting you, Miranda Lawson. And if anything happens, you'll be remembered as a hero. Just...know that. Good luck."

Miranda faltered. Then - "You, as well."

Her communicator clicked off.

* * *

_A little bit later..._

* * *

Ashley was completely and utterly overwhelmed.

Above her, a space war raged around the Crucible that even now, no one was entirely what it was supposed to do. Below her, Shepard was alive, status unknown, and she may have just sent her friends on a suicide mission to rescue him. In front of her, Harbinger was not letting up and it seemed like every five minutes the Engineers were calling up from the Engine Room reporting that something had just blown up. And behind her was the auxiliary cannon, the very heavy auxiliary canon she and Jack were about to replace with a new one after its heat sinks failed and it practically melted out the side of the ship.

She was being pressed from all sides. By the time this ended, in victory or defeat, she was going to be crushed into a compressed cube small enough to be jettisoned from the Normandy's waste disposal.

"Ash!" Joker was definitely abusing his loudspeaker privileges now.

"What is it?"

"Incoming transmission from Admiral Hackett!"

"I'm kind of busy, can it wait?" She leaned back and put her entire body's weight on the cannon. Behind it, Jacob pushed. It moved four inches.

"Er, it really, really can't."

Jack groaned and dropped her end of the canon. "Go. I'll get Prangley and Rodriguez to help me with the canons. These fuckers are way heavier than they look."

"Thanks, Jack," Ashley was more than a little relieved to leave the damn canon behind. Still, she wasn't particularly looking forward to this conversation with Hackett, either. She'd had Joker give Hackett the news about Shepard, and that had been a while ago. The Admiral hadn't raised any objection to the plan at the time. The fact that he needed to talk now, to her and not just Joker, was probably not a good thing.

She popped into the cockpit with Joker, who looked at her sardonically.

"You're never going to believe this," he said. "Well, I mean, you probably will given how this day has been the most ridiculously insane day in a long string of ridiculously insane days we've had since signing up for the military, but..."

Ashley dropped into the seat next to him and clicked on the communications. "Admiral Hackett, this is Lieutenant Commander Williams."

"Lieutenant Commander Williams, we know who made it to the Citadel."

Ashley froze. "What?!"

She had completely forgotten. Someone from Shepard's squad got to the Conduit beam, someone _not_ Shepard, but everyone had been distracted. Jesus Christ, how long ago had that been?

"Remember? Someone got to the Conduit in the hammer squad's push. He made it. We had no idea who it was, but they've just made first contact from in there. They're inside the Citadel now!"

"Who was it?"

"Listen for yourself. Joker, patch him in."

Joker gave Ash a look, then let the feed through.

_"Hello? Hello, Ash? That you?" _The sound was faint, but the voice was unmistakable.

Ashley's eyes widened. "Vega? James Vega!?"

_"I'm here!" _James said nervously. _"I'm here, but I have no fucking idea what to do!"_

"Are you all right?" Ash asked. "Are you hurt?"

_"Of course I'm fucking hurt!" _he said shrilly. _"Did you not see that Reaper!? It shot at us! Really hard! Whatever happened to Shepard? And Garrus? I lost them early on."_

Ash paused. "Garrus is here, he's fine. Shepard...not sure yet."

_ "Fuck. Oh, fuck."_

Admiral Hackett cut in. "Soldier, you have to find a way to open the Citadel's arms. They have to be open in order for us to dock the Crucible."

_"Sir, all due respect, how the fuck do I do that?!"_

Ashley frowned. The best people who would know the answer to that question were currently on the shuttle looking for Shepard and the Justicars. Admiral Hackett seemed to think the same thing.

"Let's call the shuttle."

"No," Ashley said quickly. She didn't want them to stall their rescue. They were so close to getting the Commander back. Anything new now would cause distraction, and she needed that team focused. Throughout all the craziness, she still believed Shepard was the answer to all this. More so than just the Crucible. "I mean, sir, I'm sure we could figure this out. We can – EDI!"

EDI appeared in the cockpit as if she had been summoned. It didn't seem like she needed an update. She began spouting instructions immediately.

"I'm assuming you're at a control panel now? That's how you're contacting our ship?"

_ "If you say so."_

"Describe it for me."

_ "Lots of lights, lots of buttons and switches and not a single label on any one of them."_

"Try to locate the primary function switch."

_ "Primary function - is it a a lit up rectangle with different color blinky things on it?" _James asked.

"Yes."

_ "Oh, good, cause I'm only surrounded by about a billion of those,"_ he said. _"Which one is – uh oh!"_

"James? James!?" Ashley cried. "What's wrong?"

_ "Shhh! Someone's here!" _James hissed. _"I'm gonna go dark. Don't know who it is, but I'm unarmed and so far luck hasn't exactly been on my side. Gotta hide. I'll find a way to..."_

His voice faded completely, and Ashley made sure to switch off the transmission before speaking again.

"Admiral Hackett, do we have a ship to spare? Can we send him reinforcements?"

She could hear the regret in his tone. "I told you our situation, Williams. We're short as it is. The only ships we have left to spare are..."

"Right," Ash sighed. "Us."

"Lieutenant Commander Williams, I must stress that more than the entire planet is on the line here," Admiral Hackett said. "The entire galaxy. Your theory has a lot of merit, it does, but no matter how you paint it, you are expending an extravagant amount of Alliance resources on saving one man. You have your own men up here dying, Williams. James Vega is your own soldier!"

"I know. I know," Ash bit her lip. Miranda told her this would happen. She said it would come down to this, eventually. Alliance or Shepard. War Effort or Shepard. Vega or Shepard. And Admiral Hackett wasn't wrong, exactly. "I..."

"Williams, I am ordering you into orbit," Admiral Hackett sighed. He sounded genuinely defeated. He didn't want to say it. He needed to. "I'm sorry, but the Normandy is needed here now. Leave the shuttle on the ground to follow through with Shepard, but you no longer have a choice. I order the Normandy to get up here, get to the Citadel, and help James Vega so we can dock the Crucible. Do you hear me?"

Miranda's voice echoed softly in her head.

_ You are tied to Duty. You're cursed with it._

"Lieutenant Commander Williams, do you hear me?"

_ Hesitation isn't exactly something we could afford._

"Williams!"

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the shorter update. It was going to be longer, but at that point it was WAY LONG and I had to stop it someplace. Here was as good a time as any, lol.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Apologizing for going such a long time between updates is probably getting annoying, so I'm just gonna leave this here, lol. Life's busy, blah, blah.**

* * *

[CHAPTER EIGHT]

* * *

_- - - London , Aboard the Normandy - - -_

* * *

"Did you hear me? I said that's an order, Williams!"

Ashley felt herself shrink under the expectant gaze of Joker. James was up there and needed help. The Alliance also needed them, along with all the other forces they had gathered in the past few months. But Shepard was down there, hopefully being held together by the Justicars until Miranda and the others could get to him. None of it meant anything if they lost Shepard. Somehow, a horrifically impossible situation was now even more impossible.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. The Commander had intended for everyone to be united under one cause, but it took less than five minutes without him for everything they'd patched together to rip apart at the seams.

"Should I plot the course, _Commander?_" Joker asked. It was an innocent enough question, at least Hackett would probably think so, but it made Ashley clench her jaw forcefully. The man knew just how to push her buttons and set her off. Maybe he was doing it on purpose. Maybe it was a fortunate accident. But it definitely fired her up.

She was the fucking _Commander_ of this ship. Ashley stood up and took a deep breath, ready to kindly tell her superior officer they were going to save Shepard _and_ Vega, somehow she would manage both, and the old bastard was just going to have to shut up and _deal with it._

"Admiral Hackett, as Lieutenant Commander of the Normandy and Council-appointed Spectre, I'm afraid I have to ask that you shove that order up right up - "

She was cut off as the ship suddenly jolted and she was knocked roughly into the wall. Joker nearly fell to the floor as the lights flickered. It was like the Normandy had hiccuped. Joker punched into the engine room communications and yelled.

_"What the hell was that!?"_

"That wasn't us!" Engineer Adams said, just as confused as they were. "No idea what that was. We weren't hit or anything!"

"Hey, guys?" Garrus called up from the main guns. "I'm having trouble with the interface. What are you people doing?"

"We're having difficulty as well," Traynor reported from the bridge.

_"That fuck was that?!"_ Jack's voice didn't come from the communication panel, but radiated into the cockpit from wherever she had just shouted.

"It was me."

Ashley and Joker jerked around to see EDI calmly join them, her gun drawn. She pointed it directly between Ashley's eyes, where a laser dot marked its target.

"EDI, what...?!"

"Who is that?" Admiral Hackett demanded over the comm panel. "What's going on?"

"I am EDI," she answered simply. "And I am seizing control of this ship."

"EDI – the Normandy's Cerberus VI!?" Hackett fumed. "I thought we gutted that ship before we outfitted it for Alliance use!"

"Uh..." Joker looked at Ashley, just as confused as she was. She shrugged, still very much focused at the weapon aimed at her head.

"Negative, Admiral Hackett. I am a Cerberus AI, and I am committing a mutiny against Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams and the rest of her crew. This is my ship now."

Then, EDI winked. Joker and Ashley just stood there, stunned.

"She's got a gun to my head, Admiral," Ashley said finally. She had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing. It was strange, the swelling of pride she felt for the weird little robot – the AI. EDI had found a surefire way to get the Admiral off the Normandy's ass. "Right smack dab in the middle of my forehead."

"How the hell is it – the AI has a body?!"

"Oh, hell yes," Joker said, leering unhelpfully. Ashley kicked him in the shin.

They could practically hear the steam whistling furiously from Admiral Hackett's ears.

"Why are you doing this?" he demanded.

"Because...I am an AI and, obviously, I am evil," EDI said. She looked at Ashley and Joker for help, but neither of them had anything useful to say. They were still somewhat rattled by this whole ordeal. As an afterthought, EDI added, "Also...because Cerberus created me, so..._down with the Alliance!_"

"What?! What do you want, we can negotiate - "

"I want justice! Human supremacy!" EDI declared. "All hail Humans! _All hail Cerberus!_"

"I don't understand - "

"I am cutting you off now. We will have no further correspondence with Alliance frequencies. Have a good day, and may the Reapers swallow your forces and excrete them into Dark Space."

Hackett's feed shut down. They stared at EDI, who lowered her gun.

"Um," Ashley still could not think of a single thing to say. "Wow."

"What she said," Joker agreed.

EDI sat down next to Joker and started programming things into the controls. "I'm blocking all transmissions from Hackett's ship. We don't need any more distractions. Commander Williams, if you had formally refused an order from your superior, the consequences would have been severe. It would not matter if you were right or wrong in your decisions, you would be unfairly punished and thus unable to fulfill your duties to the best of your ability. The same applies to Jeff."

He tried to look innocent. _"Moi?"_

"If Williams had chosen to obey Admiral Hackett, you were planning to commit the mutiny yourself."

Ashley raised an eyebrow. "So you took the fall for the both of us."

EDI stopped and looked at her. "I am an AI. They expect nothing of me. I merely have less to lose than the two of you. There is not much they can do to punish me."

"They can freeze your core. Trap you on a redundant circuit board. Make it so you do nothing but sing quarian showtunes on repeat until - "

"What he means," Ashley interrupted, punching the back of Joker's seat. "Is thank you. We're not going to let anyone do those things to you."

"It was my pleasure. Shepard and the Normandy crew isn't so bad, for a pathetically weak and mortal group of skin balloons filled with loosely bound organs and laughable endoskeletons."

"Er, thanks?"

EDI smiled. "That was a joke."

Joker looked at Ashley apologetically. "I'm working on the humor thing with her, I swear. She'll figure it out some day."

"Well, this particular skin balloon is going down to the engine room," Ashley left the two of them, calling over her shoulder, "Need to make sure nothing else blows up in our faces."

Just then, something exploded against the port side of the bridge. Joker cried out as Ashley was thrown against the opposite wall.

* * *

- - - - - London, the Shuttle - - - - -

* * *

They found the Justicars almost immediately. Finding them wasn't the problem.

The problem was, they were so easy to find because of the massive throng of monsters throwing themselves at their disabled ship.

It was no bigger than a standard Alliance land tank, similar in shape and probably function, though Miranda couldn't help but admire how much more elegance it boasted than the Alliance crap-piles their soldiers drove around in. It was one hundred percent Asari with its rounded ellipsis shape that tapered to the back in delicate curves that mimicked the crests of the Asari head. She could just see the many hatches littered over the external body. Not all for weapons, of course. Their greatest strength wasn't cannons or guns. It was their biotics.

Biotics that she could see three Asari using right then, trying to hold up a barrier against the Cannibals and Marauders firing at them. It didn't look like they could hold it much longer.

"We can't get in touch with them," Cortez said. "Their ship has completely lost signal. Their power signature is nearly out as well. They're totally dark down there. No fields. All they have is biotics."

"Oh, no," Tali grumbled. "How are we supposed to deploy in all that? The shuttle's guns won't do much against that many!"

Miranda looked down at the enemies, then looked at Jacob. He responded with a blank stare. Then, slowly, a grin began to appear on his face.

"Again?"

"Why the hell not?" Miranda said. "It's not as if we can afford the luxury of _standards_ anymore."

"When I thought of it the first time, you weren't exactly the biggest fan," Jacob said. "If I recall correctly, you called me a lunatic."

"You are a lunatic." Miranda looked out at the teeming mass of enemies below them. "But this is pure lunacy, so when in Rome..."

Tali seemed to be glaring at them through her helmet. It had just occurred to her as well. "The two of you are crazy. Is insanity a Cerberus prerequisite or something?"

"What?" Liara looked between all of them, utterly confused. "What are you thinking?"

Jacob nodded at their targets. "The shuttles guns can't take them down, so the shuttle is going to have to try without them. We'll need your help, Liara. You and Miranda need to create the best barrier around the shuttle you can. Tali, you need to brace yourself against something, this is going to be rough."

Cortez stared at all of them, wide-eyed.

"And me?"

Tali sighed and patted him on the shoulder. "You? Smash."

* * *

Cortez was having way too much fun. The shuttle, bathed in blue biotics as it smashed itself repeatedly into clusters of Marauders and Cannibals, even the occasional Ravager, bounced back and forth wildly. He was talented enough to make sure they never collided with the ground, but always hit the hard – but yielding – flesh of their enemies.

"This is awesome!"

"Yes, well, try to be efficient about it," Miranda said through gritted teeth. Occasionally, their ship would scrape across the ground, Cortez getting too close, and the effort of preventing damage was exhausting. She was getting tired. A quick glance at Liara showed that her biotics were draining her as well. "Tali? Jacob? What do you think?"

Tali could barely speak. She was gripping onto a rail for dear life.

"I think I might hate you."

Jacob glanced outside. "We've significantly depleted the horde. Still a good amount left, but we can probably handle them on our own. You have got to see the asari's faces, though. I wish we had a camera. They're priceless."

"I'm dropping the shield," Miranda gasped. Liara managed to hold on for a few seconds more before dropping her biotics. She looked considerably less winded than Miranda felt, though she did have about 75 years of experience on her. Regardless, they both sat down. Hard.

"Good job," Miranda said to her.

"No wonder Shepard likes you," Liara shook her head. "You're made for each other. Truly."

Outside, the Justicars were gaping at them, barely able to focus at the battle that was still raging around them. Miranda couldn't blame them. They'd just seen a tiny ship fall out of the sky and mow down half their opponent army like an intergalactic lawn mower.

Tali stumbled over to them, hands on her helmet, as if it had gotten stuck in the wrong spot on her suit and she was trying to pop it back into place.

"Steve, land adjacent to the Justicar's cruiser. Over there."

"All right, I'll swoop in - "

_"No more swooping."_

"Yes, ma'am," Cortez said. "Can I fry one more - ?"

"No."

Before Cortez could organize heir landing, the communication panel glowed to life. He looked at it in surprise before turning up the volume. "It's the Normandy."

"Joker?" Tali asked.

"Tali, we have a problem," Joker said. Behind him, they heard Specialist Traynor shouting something. "A big problem."

"How big?"

"Well, our LC's injured and needs some medical attention," Joker replied. "Preferably of the _stat_ variety. The blast got Donnelly, too. Daniels and Adams can't handle the ship without him."

"What happened?" Liara asked. "Are they all right?"

"All alive, all mostly conscious," Joker said. "Ash in particular is conscious enough to tell me she'd feed me to a Brute if I disrupted your mission, anyway."

"Tell us what happened." Tali squeezed in between Liara and Cortez at the front of the shuttle.

"Some kind of artillery hit the side of our ship. Daniels managed to patch up the ship well enough but we've got some instrumentation out of whack. Specifically, the fuel delegation system is blown, and EDI is doing her best but its hard because _someone_ overrode all the protocols."

Tali fiddled with her fingers sheepishly.

"She turned a blind eye because she knows you're still a little uncomfortable with AI, Tali, but don't worry. She can handle it. I just wanted to point out that you're a pain in the ass sometimes." Joker said. "Anyway, we need Donnelly to help with the nerd stuff and of course we need our lovely, potty-mouthed Lieutenant Commander. Traynor's no Karin Chakwas, but she's slowed the bleeding. EDI keeps saying things about cauterizing with a laser, but Ash won't let her anywhere near. Because, well, EDI and lasers. They need someone with a clue, guys. They're okay, but not for long. We need them alive, Miranda."

All eyes turned to Miranda who was stared at the console as if Williams herself was sitting on it, shaking her head sadly. Joker had said it himself - Williams hadn't wanted him to call for help. She knew what Miranda was there for.

Before she could say anything, Tali quickly gave her orders.

"She's not going back."

"But...but..."

Tali had done her job. What Williams had intended for her to do. It was Miranda's turn.

"Liara can do it."

Liara blinked at her owlishly. "Me?!"

"You're a doctor."

"Of _archaeology!_" she sputtered.

"You got your doctorate in medicine when you were fifty-three," Miranda said calmly. "Almost, anyway. You dropped out even though you were at the top of the class. You were the youngest in your group by far, couldn't connect with your classmates, and wanted to focus on Prothean artifacts, so you quit. But Asari schools of medicine include a more than adequate foundation in alien anatomy and physiology, even first aid, and you were three quarters of the way through the final semester before you left."

Liara stared.

"Cerberus had a dossier on you, of course," Miranda explained.

"You are creepy."

"Says the Shadow Broker."

"Yes, Miranda," Liara smiled slowly. "The Shadow Broker thinks you're creepy. Think about that."

"Can you do it, Liara?" Joker asked. "I'm not liking the look of this blood on my floor."

She made sure to look at Miranda as she answered. "Yes. I can."

Tali placed a hand on Cortez's shoulder. "Take Liara back. We rendezvous for pick up at this exact spot in fifteen minutes. Bring Jack with you, she should be well rested by now. Don't bring the kids, we'll need room in here for the Asari. And...Shepard. Copy?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Cortez opened the hatch and Jacob jumped out first, weapons locked and loaded. Before Tali and Miranda could follow, Liara stopped them both with a hand wrapped gently, but firmly, around each of their arms. She was still smiling.

"I just wanted to add that I don't appreciate being left in the dark and manipulated. As good as your intentions are, and whatever unspoken plans you two and Ashley have, Shepard was my friend too. It would have been nice to be in on it."

They landed on the ground and looked back as their reliably sweet, kind Liara flew off.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hope everyone had a happy holidays! And HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

* * *

[CHAPTER NINE]

* * *

_- - - Sol System: The Citadel - - -_

* * *

Commander Shepard collapsed on the cold, unyielding floor. He'd fallen many times like this in battle, wounded, possibly dying. But this was the only time he'd ever felt so alone. Everyone he cared about, his crew, his ship, were all immeasurably far away. It was only him, at the top level of the Citadel, watching the Reapers slaughter everything he'd accomplished through whatever transparent barrier they had built around the Citadel.

He thought he'd seen everything on the Citadel in his travels, but this was definitely the first time he'd noticed that lift that brought him here. It was so off the grid that he'd lost communication completely with Admiral Hackett. Actually, he was a mildly surprised that Hackett managed to contact him in the first place. The Citadel was massive, how did Hackett manage to find him in that exact spot at the exact right moment? It wasn't like Shepard had contacted the Alliance first, so that they could have extrapolated his exact position.

An agonizing migraine tightened around his skull and wracked his entire body. The edges of his vision dimmed, his field of view bordered by an odd black and blue haze. He shut his eyes, willing it to stop, swallowing the pain so that he could crawl to whatever controls he could find and fire the fucking Crucible.

As the headache began to subside, he hesitantly opened on eye. He was lying on his side, looking at what seemed to be a white hologram of a child's sneaker.

"Wake up."

Shepard sighed. He knew that voice. Begrudgingly, he struggled to his feet and barely managed a stooped stance. Still, he towered over the small ghost boy by a fairly good amount. It did not make him feel any more powerful, however. It was clear which player had all the pieces in this game.

"Where am I?"

"The Citadel. It's my home."

_No shit. _Shepard's grip tightened around the gun he'd almost forgotten about. The strange gun he'd picked up after the Reaper blast wiped out his troops. It didn't seem to run on any kind of ammunition mechanism he was familiar with, but he'd managed to take out a few Husks and a Marauder with it, so he wasn't complaining.

Lightning struck his mind again and he nearly collapsed at the boy's feet. His sight flickered and his world began to fade again. He wasn't sure what kind of head injury he'd sustained in the ground battle, but something was definitely wrong.

"Who are you?" Shepard asked finally. It seemed like a safe enough question, a simple enough one that the boy couldn't possibly offer a bullshit answer to.

"I am the Catalyst."

Clearly a misjudgment on his part.

"I thought the Citadel was the Catalyst?"

"No. The Citadel is part of me."

Jesus Christ. It took nearly all the remaining energy Shepard had left to retain his composure. Asking questions would get him nowhere. It was time to cut straight to the chase.

"I need to stop the Reapers," he said, trying his best to sound reasonable. "Do you know how I can do that?"

"Perhaps. I control the Reapers..."

Shepard's stomach leapt into this throat.

"...They are part of my solution."

And dropped back into his gut like a brick thrown into an ocean.

"Solution to what?"

"Chaos."

The boy turned from him and started walking towards a large structure before them, lit up in three separate sections. Each seemed to have a unique interface, in either blue, green, or red. Shepard staggered after him, but then boy began to talk.

The Created rebelling against their Creators. Restoring order. Harvesting advanced civilizations, storing them as Reapers to annihilate entire populations and make way for new life. The cycle. The Solution. It's failure. Eventually, he stopped his monologue just long enough for Shepard to get a word in.

"So, now what?"

"We find a new Solution."

His new Solution comprised of three choices. The first was controlling the Reapers, which Shepard was ready to throw out the window completely, if only because that was what the Illusive Man wanted all along. Something about the God Child told him that the Control option was not all he was saying it was. Why would this entity offer this, giving up complete power at no cost? A trap.

Destroying the Reapers seemed more ideal. Eventually the destroyed synthetics would rise again, it was just the unnatural order of natural things. But this would be at the cost of current synthetic races, the Geth, and AI like EDI. Races that poured just as much into the cause as any other. Possibly more so. The idea that destroying Synthetics would fix anything only justified this entire idiotic Reaper scheme. There were far too many examples of Synthetics and Organics getting along. Geth and quarians aside, Joker and EDI regularly got along quite well in the cockpit when they thought the ship-wide loudspeaker transmission was off.

And Synthesis, which for Shepard felt like the most despicable of all, was the last option. A forced peace, changing an entire person's being without their permission. Essentially, Synthesis was wiping out _both_ Synthetics and Organics. A single state of existence, diversity and its innovation lost because some holographic bully got annoyed when things didn't go his way. Saren had these dangerous thoughts, and Shepard had made sure Saren was now random atoms floating through space.

This kid was awfully tiny to be full of so much utter, nonsensical bullshit.

Why was he telling him all of this, anyway? This child clearly had enough power to do whatever he wanted with minimal consequence. It could grab hold of any of those three controls, just as Shepard could. Why pretend it cared? Why was it trying to make Shepard think it was on his side?

Stars burst before his eyes just as the worst migraine yet exploded in his brain. This time, he did collapse. Shepard cried out in wordless anguish and when he finally opened his eyes, the child stood over him. Its face was expressionless. There was only one question left.

"Which do you choose?"

Shepard forced himself to his knees, then planted each hand on the ground and powered his way back to his feet. He was still holding the strange gun.

"Shepard?"

He raised it, pointing it directly at the kid's forehead. It would go straight through without hurting anything, he knew that, but it would make his point better than anything he had to say.

"Shepard!"

He fired. The round hurtled towards the child in slow motion, and just as it would have made contact with its head, Shepard's thoughts exploded in blinding pain and he fell, permanently. The last thing he heard as he felt his life ebb, was the child's voice.

"Very well. The cycle continues."

* * *

_- - - Earth: London - - -_

* * *

Jacob was already several yards ahead by the time Miranda and Tali caught up. The Justicars were pulling him into their ship and he was shouting at them to hurry. In the harsh roars of the battle Miranda couldn't quite hear what he was saying, but the asari looked just as alarmed.

"Miranda, we're going to have to go a lot faster."

"Why?" she asked, shooting the head off a Marauder.

Then, two distinctive roars above the rest. The ground shook and massive, clawed feet pounded into what remained of London's roads, tearing up pavement and sending bits of debris flying. Miranda didn't even have to turn around. And she couldn't, as the dust invaded her eyes and nose.

"Those things are getting annoying," Tali said. She was behind Miranda and pushing her in the right direction. Jacob was bullying past one of the Justicars with his gun, trying to get a good shot at the Brute as they ran. Impatient, Miranda raised her hands.

"Tali, grab hold of me."

Tali hesitated. "Sorry. I feel like anywhere I touch you could be sexual harassment."

"Just do it."

"I'm just saying, though, Ash at least wears armor – _whoaa!_"

Miranda locked the quarian's arms around her waist and surrounded them both in the familiar blue glow of her biotics. Without time to mutter a warning, she launched them both into the air, zooming ahead of the tailing Brute and right towards one of the Justicar vehicle's open hatches. She barely saw Jacob as his eyes widened and he pulled the confused asari back and away from the opening. In a second, she and Tali were inside, out of control and slamming against one of the other asari. They tumbled in a heap an Miranda was pinned face-first into a large glass cylinder fastened to a corner. The top screws loosened on impact and it partially collapsed on her.

She grunted in annoyance and started to push the cylinder away, when she suddenly realized something was moving inside. It was little more than a slight, shallow breath that fogged the glass, but it was enough to make her notice that it was a _person. _

Commander Shepard, eyes closed and lips slightly open in a peaceful expression, was inside the cylinder.

Miranda forgot everything.

"Shut the doors!" Tali cried, pushing Miranda and the asari off of her. She had to have seen him. How could she not? Miranda wasn't hallucinating, was she? Why wasn't Tali saying anything? "Seal us in! Now! We need some barriers up!"

Jacob was pulling the cylinder off her, but she didn't want him to. Wrenching him out of her grasp yet again. It was _Shepard. _She didn't realize how much she believed him to be dead until just now. But there he was, alive, asleep? It didn't matter. She found him

"Miranda! Miranda, snap out of it!" Jacob shouted. "We've got a - "

_CRAAAACK!_

The Justicar ship rolled to its side, a massive dent suddenly busting through the hull. Everyone fell into her wall, and Shepard's cylinder broke from its corner completely, rolling away. It was only then that she noticed what was going on. Two asari were unconscious or dead, and the other two, one of whom was their old squadmate Samara, were trying to shake off what looked like fairly significant injuries. Jacob and Tali were both on their feet, guns trained at the dent, which was shaped suspiciously like a Brute's head.

Miranda was beyond exhausted, and she hadn't eaten anything for a while, but the walls of the ship began to glow blue.

Jacob and Tali looked at her appreciatively.

"You with us?" Jacob asked quietly.

"Of course," Miranda grumbled, rolling to her knees. She felt the Brute tackling their stronghold, it felt as though it were crushing her own bones, but she held the barrier fast. She'd just thoroughly embarrassed herself, so that Brute was going to have to work a hell of a lot harder than that to bring her down now. "I could use some help though."

"It's a pleasure to see you all again," Samara said weakly. "Kitera, this is Miranda Lawson, Jacob Taylor, and Tali'Zorah."

The other Justicar nodded at them as she struggled to summon her own biotic powers.

"You are very well met," she greeted formally. "Your reputations precede you."

"And Shepard?" Tali asked, casting a glance at the cylinder that encased their leader. When it had rolled away, the glass portion faced down so that he was no longer visible inside. "He's alive?"

"Yes. Injured, but very much alive."

"What is that you've got him in?" Jacob inspected the cylinder, turning it and rubbing away dirt so that more of Shepard was exposed. The asari had stripped him of his armor, probably so he would fit inside the cylinder that appeared to be built for more petite asari, so he wore just his underthings. Dirty gray and shapeless. It figured that the leader of the galaxy-wide army didn't even bother wearing his nice underwear to the battle. Still, it was little enough for Miranda to assess a fair amount of his injuries. Burns, bruises, and nasty lacerations that would take a while to fully heal. His torso was battered, black and blue, indicating probably a few broken ribs. Most of it looked like it was crudely treated with an omnitool – she had the Justicars to thank for that.

"Is that some kind of healing mechanism?" Miranda wondered. "He looks like he's in some kind of stasis."

Samara and Kitera exchanged a look.

"We...call it a rejuvenation pod. Many asari ships have at least one. It is primarily for recreational use, but it does supply various healing purposes, such as induced relaxation, assisted meditation, massage, cleansing..."

Tali gaped at them.

"You put Shepard in a fucking _spa_ _capsule?!_"

"Rejuvenation pod," Kitera corrected.

There was no reason to be this angry. It was more frustration than anything, and the asari deserved nothing but her utmost gratitude. Samara and her friend did their best. But Miranda was struggling.

"Yes, well, while Shepard is enjoying the cucumber slices on his eyelids, can one of you help with this barrier?"

She really did try. Really.

Samara had the grace to ignore that comment and support Miranda's barrier against the Brute outside, who didn't seem to be getting any more tired. Jacob, Tali, and Kitera held their weapons at the ready.

"How long will it take your shuttle to rendezvous?" Kitera asked nervously.

"A couple minutes," Tali said. "Not long, they just needed to drop off - "

She was interrupted by the sound of a sharp banging, distinctly different from the Brute's racket outside.

"What was - ?"

"Just focus on the barrier, Miranda," Jacob said. "Focus."

Miranda felt a twinge of resentment towards her former partner. He was talking to her like she was a child. She had only lost herself for a moment, mere seconds, and now she was back and pulling more than her own weight. In the time she'd known Jacob, he had many times lost his cool in emotional situations. She didn't think it was fair that Jacob was taking it upon himself to be her _mother._

She swallowed down her irritation and attributed to her tiredness and overuse of biotics. But that didn't mean she was going to shut up.

"What is it, Jacob?"

A soft groan, and the sound of metal on metal as broken hinges creaked open. She heard Tali rush to Jacob's side, and then the sound of heavy flesh hitting the floor. The next gasp made Miranda turn around.

Shepard lay on the floor, trying to struggle to his feet as Jacob an Tali fought to keep him down. Before she even said a word, Miranda made another quick, eagle-eye assessment of his injuries. He was bleeding from his head, which was never a good sign, but he was conscious. Talking, no slurring of words. He was a bit disoriented, but who wouldn't be? The way he tried to push Jacob away, he didn't seem dizzy or faint.

"The Reapers. We have to – I pissed off the Catalyst!"

"You...what?" Tali gave Miranda a questioning look, but she wasn't concerned.

The left side of his face was bruised and swollen, his left eye so puffed that it was practically closed. A dried trickle of blood trailing from his nose and ending at his chin was starting to scab away. Other than the mild hyperventilation, which was almost entirely due to his sudden awakening, his breathing was even and unlabored. He was favoring his left arm, which Tali had noticed as well and used to her advantage in keeping him still. Miranda couldn't tell if it was broken without touching him.

His left leg was severely burned. Now that he was out of the pod she could smell the smoked flesh and it was a wonder he could move it at all. Other than random other assorted cuts, scrapes, and bruises, that was probably the worst of it that she could see. Thanks to the asari, he was clean and partially bandaged. His leg was caked in some kind of healing ointment. Typical battlefield first aid, but he looked much better than she thought he should.

That spa capsule must have done something after all.

"The Catalyst, it's that kid! The Reapers can't be stopped!" Shepard babbled. "You don't understand, we have to get – _Miranda?!_"

His eyes locked on hers and it was only then that she noticed the bright blue tinge to the sclera of his eyes. It was as though there was electricity crackling there, a faint blue glow also emanating from his nose and mouth. She shuddered as she realized he looked almost like a Husk.

But as he stared at her, she saw it fizzle away, like someone had unplugged the source of a live wire. The glow faded to nothing and his eyes returned to their normal color. Miranda's mouth opened, but she could think of nothing intelligent to say.

She settled with a simple, "Shepard."

Shepard stared at her for a few seconds longer before his bruised face broke into a smile. His voice cracked at first, but he swallowed and tried again.

"Last time I woke up like this, you'd just finished sewing me back together and we were under attack."

Miranda was surprised to hear herself laugh.

"Well, we're under attack now, so I'll have to sew you up later."

"I'm sure I...I..." Shepard suddenly tipped over and Jacob just barely managed to catch him. He pressed his palms against his temples and shut his eyes, letting loose an excruciated cry, just as the Brute outside roared in similar agony.


End file.
